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Guinness On June 1 in San Francisco, Joey Trimm (photo at right), the killer of Guinness, a 4-month-old puppy, was sentenced to five years in State Prison. With time served and time off, he could be back in our community before the end of this year. In a plea bargain, one of his previous two strikes was dropped and he therefore received only five years. Still, this is more time than anyone has ever served for cruelty to an animal and Trimm is also the first person to be convicted under the Three Strikes Law for cruelty to an animal. Latest Update June 5, 2000 San Francisco Three Strikes--Guinness Case Trimm Sentenced to 5 Years Dear Pet Lovers,  On
June 1 in San Francisco Superior Court, Joey Trimm (photo at right)
was sentenced to five years in State Prison for killing Guinness,
a four-month-old puppy--a small victory, considering he could have
gotten 25 years to life. Out of that five years, with time served
(Trimm has been in prison for three years) and time off, the total
actual time he will serve is 3 years and 5 months. Therefore, Trimm
will be back in our community by December of this year.This
is more time than anyone has ever served for cruelty to an animal.
Trimm is also the first person to be convicted under the Three Strikes
Law for cruelty to an animal. However, because under the plea bargain
agreement one of Trimm's previous strikes was dropped and he only
pleaded guilty to felony cruelty to an animal with one previous
strike, he therefore received only five years. Why wasn't Trimm sentenced to more time, and why was one of his previous strikes dropped? Look for more details on this case in future updates. Leroy Moyer, Director Voices For Pets 925-685-5388 Case History: Guinness May 2000 San Francisco Three Strikes--Guinness Case Strikes Reinstated by Appeals Court There has been a Plea Bargain--Sentencing May 25 There have been new developments and new information since the February update in this 3-year-old cruelty to animal case. Therefore, for the benefit of our new members, I am reissuing that update with new information included. I normally avoid gross details as much as possible when writing about non-human victims and what is done to them by sadistic, cowardly humans, and will continue to do so as much as possible, but sometimes the truth cannot be avoided without doing injustice to the victims. The following does contain material that is disturbing. On May 14, 1997 in San Francisco, Guinness, a four-month-old Shepherd-mix puppy, was beaten to death. Twenty-nine-year-old Joey Trimm admitted spanking the puppy because it was eating the cat food. Trimm said the puppy turned around and bit his left forearm and he really got mad and punched the puppy's head about three times with his fist. When Trimm's live-in girlfriend later returned home, she said she found the puppy lying on the bed motionless and whimpering. The puppy died and she gave the puppy mouth-to-mouth without success. Joey Trimm then put the puppy in a laundry bag and dumped it in a public trashcan. The girlfriend called the police and Trimm was arrested. When the police looked at Trimm's arm, they saw no blood. The skin wasn't broken. There have been many legal delays since May 1997. Fortunately, Trimm has been held in custody since 1997 on $50,000 bail, which he has not been able to make. At a July 26, 1999 preliminary hearing, veterinarian Ruth Dilts testified that the puppy, Guinness, "had a large deep bruise to the whole top of its head, the left side of its rib cage had several fractured ribs. The ribs were fractured inward. The ribs had punctured the lung on the left side. There was blood in the chest cavity. There were massive fractures of most of the left lobes of the liver." Trimm has two prior sexual violent felonies and Deputy D.A. Chuck Haines charged him under the state's three strikes law. On June 26, 1990, Joey Trimm was convicted in Humboldt County of oral copulation of a person under 14 years of age by force or fear. Trimm was also convicted of anal penetration with a foreign object by force or fear. (Note from Voices For Pets: The child was 3 years old.) A trial date of January 3, 2000 was cancelled. The defense made a motion to have Trimm's prior convictions eliminated as possible strikes, based upon the claim that he did not have competent representation and did not understand the full consequences of his guilty plea. The judge found in favor of the defendant. Trimm, who has been in jail since May 1997, then wanted to change his plea on the animal cruelty charge from not-guilty to guilty, so that he could receive time served and walk out of jail a free man. That did not happen because Deputy D.A. Chuck Haines appealed the judge's decision and everything was put on hold. Trimm remained in jail while the Appeals Court made a decision, either overturning the judge's ruling or upholding it, which would result either in a jury trial or Trimm walking out of the courtroom and back into our community free to kill again. State Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office handled the appeal and won. The Court of Appeals overturned the judge's decision and reinstated Trimm's previous convictions as strikes. The case was sent back to San Francisco for trial to begin April 28th, but this did not happen. When I asked Deputy D.A. Haines what had happened, he started saying things like "We have already put a lot of resources into this case," "Trimm has already served more time waiting for trial than he would have if found guilty of cruelty to an animal," "The judge might plea bargain on his own," etc. Haines said, "I am still not offering Trimm a deal." I don't mean to take too much away from Deputy Haines. He is the first D.A. to charge three strikes in a cruelty to animal case. It is true that the San Francisco D.A.'s office put a lot of time and money into this case, paid for with our tax dollars. It is also true that the public defender's office spent a lot of time and money defending Trimm, also paid for with our tax dollars. Whatever happened happened behind closed doors and not in open court, so we will never know. At this time, all we do know is that there is no trial scheduled but there is a sentencing date of May 25, 2000. The word around the courthouse is that a deal was made and Trimm will be given time served and walk out of jail free to kill again. Would this case have been treated differently if the victim had been human instead of a puppy? How many victims have there been that no one knows about? Does anyone doubt that this sadistic monster will look for more victims? More background: In a March 1990 interview, Trimm admitted to throwing cats into walls or fences and inserting pencils into their rectums. In the attack on the 3-year-old child, Trimm punched the boy in the stomach and hit him on both sides of the head, leaving marks that were visible the next day. Trimm then urinated on him before forcing his penis into the boy's mouth and shoving the wooden handle of a bathroom plunger into the boy's rectum. For his crimes against the boy, Trimm was sentenced to 10 years, but like most violent criminals, he only did a fraction of his time before being released. Many people have told me that they voted for the three strikes law thinking that it would keep people like Richard Allen Davis out of our community and protect victims like Polly Klass. Maybe Trimm's next victim will be his last. The sentencing is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. on May 25 in Department 25 (Third Floor), 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco (corner of 7th and Bryant Streets). If you take BART, get off at the Civic Center Station and walk south on 7th Street to Bryant Street. Leroy Moyer, Director - Voices For Pets - 925-685-5388 February 2000 San Francisco Three Strikes--Guinness Case There have been new developments and new information since the December update in this now more than 2-1/2-year-old cruelty to animal case. Therefore, for the benefit of our new members, I am reissuing that update with new information included. I normally avoid gross details as much as possible when writing about non-human victims and what is done to them by sadistic, cowardly humans, and will continue to do so as much as possible, but sometimes the truth cannot be avoided without doing injustice to the victims. The following does contain material that is disturbing. On May 14, 1997 in San Francisco, Guinness, a four-month-old Shepherd-mix puppy, was beaten to death. Joey Trimm admitted spanking the puppy because it was eating the cat food. Trimm said the puppy turned around and bit his left forearm and he really got mad and punched the puppy's head about three times with his fist. When Trimm's live-in girlfriend later returned home, she said she found the puppy lying on the bed motionless and whimpering. The puppy died and she gave the puppy mouth-to-mouth without success. Joey Trimm then put the puppy in a laundry bag and dumped it in a public trashcan. The girlfriend called the police and Trimm was arrested. When the police looked at Trimm's arm, they saw no blood. The skin wasn't broken. There have been many legal delays since May 1997. Fortunately, Trimm has been held in custody since 1997 on $50,000 bail, which he has not been able to make. At a July 26, 1999 preliminary hearing, veterinarian Ruth Dilts testified that the puppy, Guinness, "had a large deep bruise to the whole top of its head, the left side of its rib cage had several fractured ribs. The ribs were fractured inward. The ribs had punctured the lung on the left side. There was blood in the chest cavity. There were massive fractures of most of the left lobes of the liver." Trimm has two prior sexual violent felonies and Deputy D.A. Chuck Haines has charged him under the state's three strikes law. On June 26, 1990, Joey Trimm was convicted in Humboldt County of oral copulation of a person under 14 years of age by force or fear. Trimm was also convicted of anal penetration with a foreign object by force or fear. (Note from Voices For Pets: The child was 3 years old, and the foreign object was the wooden handle of a bathroom plunger.) The latest
trial date of January 3, 2000 was cancelled. The defense made a
motion to have Trimm's prior convictions eliminated as possible
strikes, based upon the claim that he did not have competent representation
and did not understand the full consequences of his guilty plea.
The judge found in favor of the defendant. Trimm then wanted to
change his not-guilty plea to animal cruelty to guilty, so that
he could receive time served and walk out a free man. This did not
happen because Deputy D.A. Chuck Haines is appealing the judge's
decision and everything has been put on hold. Trimm remains in jail
until the Appeals Court makes a decision, either overturning the
judge's ruling or upholding it, which will result either in a jury
trial or Trimm walking out of the courtroom and back into our community
free to kill again. December 1999 There has been little development, with some new information since the October update. Therefore, for the benefit of our new members, I am reissuing that update with new information included. I normally avoid gross details as much as possible when writing about non-human victims and what is done to them by sadistic, cowardly humans, and will continue to do so as much as possible, but sometimes the truth cannot be avoided without doing injustice to the victims. The following does contain material that is disturbing. On May 14, 1997 in San Francisco, Guinness, a four-month-old Shepherd-mix puppy, was beaten to death. Joey Trimm admitted spanking the puppy because it was eating the cat food. Trimm said the puppy turned around and bit his left forearm and he really got mad and punched the puppy's head about three times with his fist. When Trimm's live-in girlfriend later returned home, she said she found the puppy lying on the bed motionless and whimpering. The puppy died and she gave the puppy mouth-to-mouth without success. Joey Trimm then put the puppy in a laundry bag and dumped it in a public trashcan. The girlfriend called the police and Trimm was arrested. When the police looked at Trimm's arm, they saw no blood. The skin wasn't broken. There have been many legal delays since May 1997. Fortunately, Trimm has been held in custody since 1997 on $50,000 bail, which he has not been able to make. At a July 26, 1999 preliminary hearing, veterinarian Ruth Dilts testified that the puppy, Guinness, "had a large deep bruise to the whole top of its head, the left side of its rib cage had several fractured ribs. The ribs were fractured inward. The ribs had punctured the lung on the left side. There was blood in the chest cavity. There were massive fractures of most of the left lobes of the liver." A trial has finally been set for January 3, 2000 at 9:30 A.M., Department 22, San Francisco Superior Court, 850 Bryant Street. Even if Trimm is found guilty, he is likely to be given time served and walk out of court a free man and back into our community. But there is still hope. Trimm has two prior sexual violence felonies and Deputy D.A. Chuck Haines wants to try him under the state's three strikes law. On June 26, 1990, Joey Trimm was convicted in Humboldt County of oral copulation of a person under 14 years of age by force or fear. Trimm was also convicted of anal penetration with a foreign object by force or fear. (Note from Voices For Pets: The child was 3 years old, and the foreign object was the wooden handle of a bathroom plunger.) San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan's office does not have a good record when it comes to prosecuting cruelty to animal cases, but it is better than other Bay Area counties. In his campaign four years ago, Hallinan pledged to crack down on violent criminals and to use the three strikes law for violent crimes. Write to: Terence Hallinan San Francisco District Attorney 850 Bryant Street San Francisco, CA 94103 FAX: 415-553-9054 Be sure to add the killer's name: Joey Loid Trimm, Case No. 175890. Tell him to support his Deputy District Attorney, Chuck Haines, and keep his campaign promises. Try Joe Trimm with three strikes and keep this sadistic violent criminal out of our community. |
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