INSIDE INFO ON THE VICK CASE
Go to sample letter

PLEASE REMEMBER: For Kinship Circle letter campaigns to work, Kinship Circle must always remain ANONYMOUS. For Kinship Circle to avoid lawsuits or investigation under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), it must remain ANONYMOUS. Please never reference Kinship Circle when you send comments directly to letter recipients.

FROM BRENDA SHOSS, KINSHIP CIRCLE, 8/20/07: I just had the unique opportunity to speak to Gerald Poindexter, the attorney prosecuting Michael Vick at the state level. I was surprised by his honesty and probably know too much about the inner workings of Vick's case for my own good!

Mr. Poindexter's office very much wants to PROSECUTE Michael Vick on felony charges for dogfighting, animal cruelty, and killing dogs (a felony in VA). Please ONLY SEND SUPPORTIVE comments in regard to the state's case against Vick. He has been inundated with hate mail from those who DON'T want Vick prosecuted and those accusing him of playing the race card, etc.

Mr. Poindexter has asked me to let you, the animal advocacy public, know:

• The fact Vick pled guilty today and struck a deal in FEDERAL COURT does NOT EFFECT THE STATE'S CASE in Surry, Virginia.
  
  
• The state is making every effort to conduct a thorough investigation. While the state has probable cause to believe crimes were committed and Vick, along with his 3 co-defendants, can be convicted — the state has been unable to complete its investigation.

WHY?

Federal prosecutors have placed the main witnesses in a federal protection program. So the state has no access to eyewitness testimony. Surry County (Virginia) evidence — including custody of the 54 confiscated dogs, exercise equipment, etc. — has been handed over to federal investigators.

"They [federal authorities] hold the upper hand in the sense I don't know how to communicate with witnesses essential to my case," Mr. Poindexter told me. "I am effectively at an impasse in terms of physical evidence to build a case on. But, this won't last. I believe federal authorities will eventually cooperate and we will be able to proceed."

CONTACT INFORMATION + SAMPLE LETTER

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@usdoj.gov
Questions/information requests: usavae.usattys@usdoj.gov
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: 757-294-3118; fax: 757-294-3560
NO EMAIL ADDRESS

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 at the federal level 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. I ask the U.S. Attorney's Office to forego slap-on-the-wrist penalties. 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.

I fully support the Virginia Commonwealth Attorney's investigation and prosecution of Vick and his co-defendants on felony charges.

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.

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 and 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