Leo's Killer: Guilty as Charged

Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - USA

SANTA CLARA, CA — Late yesterday a Santa Clara jury of 8 women and 4 men took less than an hour to deliberate and find 27-year-old Andrew Burnett guilty of felony animal cruelty charges.

"The deck was so stacked against him in this case from day one," laments defense attorney Marc Garcia.

According to attorneys on both sides, Burnett never stood a chance in this high-profile case which has received national TV, newspaper and internet coverage (click here to jump to the victim Leo's website, which relates the whole story).

Prosecuting attorney Troy Benson stated after the verdict, "Andrew Burnett is the only person in the whole world who would think this was reasonable.  The entire nation and the world were so outraged by this."

He was responding to the defense's highly unsuccessful strategy of painting an act of self-defense, whereby Burnett instinctively tossed the dog to the ground after having been bitten.

One Scoop reader wrote in last week with the compelling question, "WHY WAS HIS HAND IN HER CAR TO BEGIN WITH!"

Editor's note: That's enough for me.  Case closed.

The defendant sat motionless through the reading of the verdict as reporters, onlookers and family members (on both sides) watched.  At one point he winked at his fiancée Jackie Figgins seated in the front row.

Ms. Figgins would later tell reporters, "I think there is more to the story than was actually said.  The guy is not the animal-hating monster that he has been described as."  She went on to describe that Burnett never took the stand to speak on his own behalf due to a legal complication.

The defense's reason for not calling Burnett was never explained to the court in the closing statement.  But upon further investigation, it turns out that the legal complication of which Ms. Figgins spoke was largely due to a mutually-designed compromise agreed upon by both the prosecution and the defense.

When news broke last week of additional witnesses, testimonies and evidence against the accused man, the defense was quick to call for a dismissal of the new material.  After a weekend continuance ordered by Judge Murphy, it was decided that the prosecution would not be allowed to call the new witnesses unless they were necessary to refute the testimony of the defendant.

Accordingly, if the defendant never took the stand, then the prosecution could never present the new evidence (which included reports of Burnett beating a dog to death in Puerto Rico).

Sentencing is scheduled for July 13, 2001; Burnett now faces up to three years in prison for his crime.  In addition, he still faces trial for a handful of other unrelated offenses: theft of a Pacific Bell repair van and $68,000 worth of equipment, several speeding tickets and repeated perjury.

Editor's note: Last week the Scoop ran an informal poll as to whether the world should hear more about this sordid saga.  Click the button below to see the results and read a few excellent opinions.

UPDATE July 13, 2001:
Leo's Killer Gets the Max, 3 Years

§§§