Police dog's killer gets a life term: Conviction was man's third strike

[a kennedy]

By Stephanie Rice

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Ronald J. Chenette, convicted six months ago in the death of a police dog, knew what was going to happen well before Friday's sentencing hearing in Clark County Superior Court.

Everyone else knew, too.

The sentence was dictated by the state's "three strikes" law, which locks away felons for life after three violent crimes.

The absence of suspense might explain why nobody who didn't have to be at the hearing showed up, save for Chenette's parents and one other supporter.

When Judge Roger Bennett expressed surprise that no officers appeared on behalf of Dakota, a 5-year-old German shepherd owned by the Vancouver Police Department, Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson shrugged.

The sentencing had been rescheduled many times — due to requests from court-appointed defense attorney Jeff Barrar, who was investigating a tip about juror misconduct but didn't turn up any wrongdoing. Maybe officers gave up trying to attend, Jackson said.

Jackson also mentioned that SWAT officers who responded to the Oct. 23, 2007, incident were in training Friday afternoon.

Unable to argue the sentence, Barrar expressed hope the case will get people to think about how poorly society deals with the mentally ill. Chenette was diagnosed in 2000 with paranoid schizophrenia. He hadn't been taking his medicine.

"His parents love him, they tried to care for him, but they can't watch him every second of every day," Barrar said.

The day Dakota was shot, Chenette "got his hands on a couple of beers and a handgun," Barrar said.

full article: <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009228007_websentence16m.html>

[Vickers]

1. Before you feel *too* sorry for him:

"Chenette's first two strikes were second-degree murder — he killed a drug dealer — and second-degree assault."

Sucks to be him.

[a kennedy]

2. diagnosed in 2000 with paranoid schizophrenia

D*mn that there isn't a way for them to make sure they take their drugs.......

[Vickers]

10. Well, if Ronnie Raygun wouldn't have stopped funding for the mentally

ill this guy just might be getting the help he needs instead of facing a mandatory life sentence.

At any rate, we makes our choices.

[mrs_p]

3. while i feel sorry that he is

mentally ill and obviously needed help, i'm not sorry he has a life term. he already killed someone, had another assault, and was drunk waving around a gun (his friends are the ones who called 911 - they must have had some reason to be afraid of him). he knew police officers were in pursuit of him. and then he shoots a police dog. his intent was to kill. what are we supposed to do with people like him who are obviously violent and refuse to take their meds? i don't believe in the death penalty, so this seems like the best option.

[a kennedy]

4. it's just so sad......

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. How about a hospital instead of a prison?

[mrs_p]

7. well, he probably will go

to Western State Mental Hospital - which is where mentally ill criminals go in western WA

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Well that's good

If he is non-compliant with meds, he does need to be in a hospital.

[LisaL]

17. I imagine he can be easily made compliant when he is in prison.

[Turbineguy]

6. I would think that the problem

with being mentally ill is that a person is incapable of understanding the consequences of not taking the medication.

Maybe there would be some value in developing a system that does not require a mentally ill person to act to take a medication, obviating the "choice" or "refusal".

I don't understand why in this country we rely on the Justice system so heavily to deal with the mentally ill when it obviously isn't working very well.

[cali]

11. that's just wrong. there are many people with mental illness

that do understand the consequences or potential consequence of not taking prescribed medication- and I advocated for them through the mandated Protection & advocacy system. Furthermore, forced medication is in place in many jurisdictions in both state and private psych hospitals. As a condition of release, compliance with a treatment plan including medication, is common. There are solid reasons, as well, for refusal of medication. It's much more complex than one might initially think.

[opihimoimoi]

15. He shoots a Special Dog and gets life....he coulda shot any dog and still get LIFE..What about BUSH?

He killed countless peeps with his Dicider Decisions

He tortured and killed many prisoners...had the tapes of screaming victims made into MP3

He too is a Pyscho

[TexasObserver]

8. That's life in our Bizarro Land Justice system now.

What's the life expectancy of a police dog?

A diet high in red meat. High stress work. Probably hangs out with other police dogs after work, knocking down boiler makers. And for what? So they can help fill up private prisons with college students and screw ups?

The concern for the dog is great, but the concern for the human is non existent. Upside down values. Dogs are cool animals, but killing a police dog shouldn't result in more than a one year prison term. If they don't have any other crime to charge the guy with, why were they using the dog? The dog isn't out there working on his own. Someone is directing him. The dog is an instrument of violence used against the accused. Is he guilty of anything more than running from a dog that is chasing him, of protecting himself?

I'm inclined to look more closely at the accused, the human.

[datasuspect]

13. the propaganda machine has instilled in our culture a collective hardon for anything in uniform

a police dog is considered an officer. they will memorialize this animal, place its name on the rolls of the honored "killed in the line of duty."

[TexasObserver]

19. Yes, the fawning over police dogs is reprehensible.

Do they wail like that over a lost Taser or billy club? Police dogs are instruments of violence police use against the innocent and the guilty alike.

[Occulus]

14. The funny part is that dogs (and other pets) are always considered property

UNLESS it's a police dog. See, they can shoot a family pet that's actually running away from them, and it's just a pet- no matter that most family pets are more valuable to the families in question than any police dog can or ever will be. No, our bereavement when they shoot our dogs while conducting spurious drug raids, and then make us lie in their blood while they perform their "search"- that doesn't matter.

Only pigs' dogs matter. Legally.

[TexasObserver]

20. Yes, this notion that killing a police dog is assaulting an officer is absurd.

[soothsayer]

12. Three strikes is to help privatized jails, which is an enterprise of Cheney's

THey get paid by the number of bodies in the beds, so three strikes really helps keep them full.

[LisaL]

16. And so?

I got not problem with this whatsoever. In fact I think there should be much tougher penalties for people who kill or hurt pets, even if its not their third strike. Also, a police dog is considered a police officer.

[FLAprogressive]

18. I don't like Three Strikes laws but this guy doesn't really deserve freedom.

[WillowTree]

21. His parents are partly culpable, as well, IMO.

If they understand that "they can't watch him every second of every day", how in the name of all that's holy did he gain access to a couple of beers, let alone a handgun? Even a modicum of common sense would dictate that such items must be kept such that a person resident in the household with his violent history and mental incapacity absolutely cannot get at them.......ever. It isn't any different than making certain that a toddler can't get into Drain-O or Lysol stored under the kitchen sink.

I do recognize that no parent of any child, infant or adult, can keep their offspring in their line of sight 24/7/365, these people already knew of their son's mental condition and propensity for violence. That they left open any possibility that he could get his hands on alcohol and/or firearms is unconscionable.

[bertman]

23. Without knowing more about the situation it's hard to say they were at fault. Adults,

especially a mobile adult who wants to get away for a beer or two, can be pretty crafty.

[dorkulon]

22. Certainly he's a danger to society, whether it's his fault or not.

The mere fact of his mental problems doesn't really matter insofar as he is a dangerous person. Jail probably isn't the best place for him, but he does need to removed from society.

[flvegan]

24. Good.

Hopefully in prison, maybe he'll get the supervised care he needs. Unlikely, but it's not working as a free man obviously.

[BlooInBloo]

25. Three strikes needs to go, on double jeopardy grounds, imo.