Writer's Alert--No Deal For Sick Vick's Dogfighting Crimes

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Kinship Circle <kinshipcircle wrote:LETTER/ No Deal For Sick Vick's Dogfighting Crimes Kinship Circle Primary - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN (Please do not delete identity/disclaimer information) 8/19/07: No Deal For Sick Vick's Dogfighting Crimes KINSHIP CIRCLE ACTION CAMPAIGN http://www.KinshipCircle.org SOURCE OF INFORMATION: Co-defendant links Vick to killing of at least 8 dogs

http://www.fannation.com/articles/show/1139999 Grim details emerge as Vick's co-defendants plead guilty http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2978715 Vick likely to face state charges in alleged dogfighting ring http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2979518 Vick must decide whether to accept plea agreement http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2972161 Report: Michael Vick Offered Plea Deal, Has Until Friday to Take It http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293172,00.html Vick's now

on defense http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/michael_vick.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-07-26-700.html CLARIFICATION: FEDERAL (NATIONAL) Prosecutors In Vick Case: Assistant U.S. attorneys Michael R. Gill and Brian L. Whisler represent U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. STATE Prosecutor In Vick Case: Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Gerald Poindexter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday that "yes, indeed, we will prosecute" Vick and others on possible animal cruelty and dogfighting charges. =========================================================== SAMPLE LETTER & CONTACT

INFO Sample letters are prepared to give you ample background on an issue. Try to change some words, pare down letters, and make them your own. **DELETE ALL REFERENCES TO KINSHIP CIRCLE BEFORE SENDING** =========================================================== United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia ATN: Assistant U.S. attorneys Michael R. Gill and Brian L. Whisler 600 East Main Street, Suite 1800 Richmond, VA 23219-2447 ph: 804-819-5400; fax: 804-771-2316 Comments: usaovae.webmastervae Questions/information requests: usavae.usattys PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office doesn't respond to inquiries made to this website. To make a request for information, you may contact our office -- (Richmond) 757-591-4000 -- or you may send

a written inquiry to address above. SOURCE: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Gerald Poindexter SURRY COUNTY Post Office Box 358 * Surry, Virginia 23883 ph: 804-294-3118; fax: 804-294-3560 SOURCE: http://www.justice.gov/usao/vaw/law_enforcement_directory/commatty.html TO: The Honorable Michael R. Gill and Brian L. Whisler, Assistant U.S. Attorneys The Honorable Gerald Poindexter, Virginia Commonwealth Attorney, Surry County Gentlemen, As the Michael Vick dogfighting case unfolds, the global public is shocked to read about negotiations that could land the defendant less than one year prison time. I respectfully demand penalties commensurate with alleged crimes. Vick, along with three co-defendants,

is charged with conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and conspiracy to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting enterprise. As you know, these felony offenses carry a punishment of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. I urge federal and state prosecutors to take a no-lenience stance on dogfighting, animal mutilation and torture. Please levy maximum penalties and ensure Vick undergoes psychological counseling. In addition, he should be barred from possessing or living alongside animals in any context. Initially, officials uncovered more than 50 pit bulls at Vick's Virginia home. They also found fight tools such as a "rape stand" for forced breeding, treadmills, drugs to amplify aggression, and a bloody fight pit. Now that co-defendants Quanis Phillips, Purnell Peace, and Tony Taylor have consented to testify against Vick, more sickening details have surfaced.

When dogs lost their "game," the Bad Newz Kennels cohorts drowned, strangled, hung, shot or electrocuted them. Phillips attested to Vick's involvement in the execution of at least eight dogs. One dog was slammed against the ground until dead. Vick was consulted to kill another dog "by wetting the dog down with water and electrocuting the animal." More recently, numerous sources informed ESPN's Kelly Naqi that Vick, Peace and Phillips first noosed dogs in the woods on Vick's property. When three dogs survived a hanging ordeal, Vick, Peace and Phillips immersed the animals' heads in five gallon buckets of water until they drowned. Phillips and Peace also upheld Taylor's claim that Vick participated in gambling. More illicit activity is certain to emerge. Along with gambling, animal fight rings are associated with auto theft, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, money laundering, and acts of human violence.

I ask the U.S. Attorney's Office to forego slap-on-the-wrist penalties. Please rigorously prosecute Vick under federal conspiracy and dogfighting laws. I encourage the Virginia Commonwealth Attorney to prosecute Vick and his co-defendants on felony animal cruelty and dogfighting charges. Criminologists view the intensity of violent behavior (regardless of the victim's identity) as a precursor to future violence. Animal cruelty is a key trait in the American Psychiatric Association's profile for conduct Disorders. The FBI identifies animal abuse as a stage along the violence continuum. These dogs were forced into lives of brutal misery. I thank you in advance for protecting society from the men who senselessly abused them. Sincerely, ***************************************************************************************************

*************************************************************************************************** GET THE FACTS ON SICK VICK THE CO-DEFENDANTS Purnell A. Peace, 35, also known as "P-Funk" or "Funk," of Virginia Beach. Authorities say Vick and Peace bought approximately four pit bull puppies from an unidentified cooperating witness in Virginia in 2002. He and Vick also "rolled" or "tested" some of their dogs in short fights, authorities say. In 2002, the indictment says, Peace allegedly executed a dog that did not perform well. Quanis L. Phillips, 28, also known as "Q," of Atlanta. Phillips, along with Vick and defendant Tony Taylor, purchased four pit bull puppies for

approx. $1,000 in September 2001 from someone in Williamsburg, according to the indictment. In the summer of 2002, he allegedly executed at least one dog that did not perform well in a test fight. Tony Taylor, 34, also known as "T," found the property at 1915 Moonlight Road in Surry County to establish a place to house and train the pit bulls, authorities said. Court documents show he also helped purchase four pit bulls in September 2001. In 2002, the documents show, he apparently executed at least two dogs that did not perform well in test fights. FEDERAL THE PROSECUTORS Assistant U.S. attorneys Michael R. Gill and Brian L. Whisler represent U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District

of Virginia. Gill joined the Richmond office in 2005 after more than five years with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Dallas. Whisler joined the office in 2002 after serving as an assistant in the Western District of North Carolina from 1993 to 2002. THE JUDGES U.S. Magistrate Dennis W. Dohnal, 61, will conduct the bond hearing. A native of Cleveland, he is a graduate of the George Washington Law Center and came to Richmond as an assistant U.S. attorney in 1971. He entered private practice in 1974 and was appointed to bench in January 2000. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson, 60, will conduct the arraignment. Hudson, a 1974 graduate of American University Law School, was an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Arlington from 1974-1979; an assistant U.S. attorney 1978 to 1979; in private practice in 1979, 1991-1992, 1994-1998...

THE DEFENSE ATTORNEYS Vick is represented by Lawrence Hunter Woodward Jr., 50, of Virginia Beach. A Radford native, Woodward is a 1982 graduate of the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond and is an experienced criminal trial lawyer. His firm's website says Woodward has negotiated endorsement and team contracts valued at hundreds of millions of dollars for NFL and NBA players and is certified as an agent with the NFL and NBA. Peace is represented by Claire G. Cardwell, 49, of Richmond. A Norfolk native, Cardwell is a 1984 graduate of the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. She has extensive experience in criminal defense work in state and federal courts. She was in private practice from 1984 to 1994 and was chief deputy commonwealth's attorney in Richmond from 1994 to 2002. She has been in private practice since

then. Phillips is represented by Franklin Alex Swartz, 68, of Norfolk. According to his firm's Web site, Swartz is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and practices criminal and personal injury law. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1964. He was a captain in the Army from 1964 to 1966 and an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Norfolk from 1968 to 1970. Phillips also is represented by Jeffrey A. Swartz, 45, a native of Charlottesville and a 1987 graduate of the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary. He has handled criminal cases in state and federal courts and is a former prosecutor in Norfolk. Taylor is represented by Stephen Ashton Hudgins, 52, a Newport News native and 1981 graduate of the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. He primarily practices

criminal law in state/federal courts and has been in private practice his entire career. SOURCE: Vick's now on defense http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/michael_vick.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-07-26-700.html STATE THE PROSECUTOR While Michael Vick and his lawyers are pondering a possible plea deal on federal charges related to an alleged dogfighting ring, the state of Virginia plans to go ahead with separate charges as a result of their own investigation, according to a published report. Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Gerald Poindexter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday that

"yes, indeed, we will prosecute" Vick and others on possible animal cruelty and dogfighting charges. Poindexter said a grand jury is set to convene on Sept. 25 and the case would probably be submitted at that time. The specific charges to be filed haven't been decided yet, but Poindexter said some evidence gathered in the federal case against Vick could be used against the Falcons quarterback. Dogfighting and animal cruelty are felonies in Virginia with animal cruelty charges holding penalties of up to five years in jail for each animal killed. "The execution of these animals -- and the manner in which they were executed -- is startlingly offensive and demanding of prosecution," Poindexter told the newspaper. SOURCE: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2979518 *************************************************************************************************** *************************************************************************************************** Your donation keeps our voice alive. KINSHIP CIRCLE Fact Sheets for your advocacy materials. 8.5 x 11" Fact Sheets with high-resolution photos + timely info, stats and studies. We create logical and compelling literature that speaks on the animals’ behalf. We have over 50 different FACT SHEETS: http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/ THANK YOU for donating toward the PRINTING of our educational literature. DONATE NOW: http://www.kinshipcircle.org/donation/ DOWNLOAD FREE, HIGH RESOLUTION FACT SHEETS: http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/ Over 50 high-resolution, 8.5 x 11" Fact Sheets for your advocacy materials Use entire Fact Sheet Or, crop out high-res photos + fact bites to make your own posters, flyers *************************************************************************************************** Kinship Circle - Action Campaigns I Literature I Voice For Animals Nonprofit working in animal protection/cruelty + animal disaster relief campaigns Brenda Shoss, president * Janet Enoch, vice-president info or kinshipcircle http://www.KinshipCircle.org * http://www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/default.html *************************************************************************************************** UNSUBSCRIBE: * Kindly do NOT use your junk mail filter. * Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox. * Hit “FORWARD” * Enter kinshipcircle and send. [Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line]. * Make sure the “To” line from our original alert is in your email, LIKE THIS: Kinship Circle Monday, April 10, 2006 11:34 AM 7. KINSHIP CIRLE

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