Mass. driver convicted of running over mother duck

[Lone_Star_Dem]

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) - A driver who ran over and killed a mother duck walking her 12 ducklings across a Massachusetts mall parking lot has been sentenced to a year of probation.

Witnesses say Joshua Linhares deliberately drove at the ducks in the Dartmouth Mall parking lot in June, turning sharply and speeding up. Surveillance video from nearby stores supported their account.

The 25-year-old Acushnet (uh-KOOSH'-neht) resident testified he didn't see the ducks because he was distracted by a woman waving her arms at him. He says he left the scene because he panicked.

New Bedford District Court jurors took 15 minutes Tuesday to convict him of animal cruelty.

Prosecutors requested jail time. But the judge imposed the lesser sentence because Linhares didn't have a prior criminal record.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/09/ap/national/main5956735.shtml

[Shell Beau]

1. What a fucking brat.

I am glad she was convicted.

[tblue37]

15. She? Joshua is a man's name. nt

[Shell Beau]

17. My bad. I read Josie. That is what I get for reading too quickly.

But my fucking brat comment still stands!

[RKP5637]

2. Still deserved jail time in my book! I'm tired of this cruel BS and a slap on the wrist! n/t

[Thickasabrick]

3. What happened to the baby ducks? nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. IIRC, they survived ok.

Let's hope so.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. "The ducklings were adopted by a family and then were released into the wild"

Here's a pic of the little darlings.

[Thickasabrick]

11. Yay.....a happy ending. Thank you. They are too cute!!!! nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. Welcome. nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. "The ducklings were adopted by a family and then were released into the wild." nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. He got off easy.

Next time it'll proably be a person.

[Schema Thing]

7. this story is a trigger for me.

when I was 10, I had a duckling that was my favorite from the brood, and I would even let it sleep with me.

Yeah, you can probably figure out where this is going. Mom sitting on the edge of the bed to wake me with a concerned, empathetic look on her face; duckling nowhere around.

"Pressed" was an apt description. I cried for days.

[mucifer]

8. It's mean and the person is disturbed. But factory farming is cruel too.

I'm glad he didn't get jail time. The jails are full enough. Community service seems like a more logical step.

[karynnj]

9. His excuse makes it worse

A woman waving her hands is a clear sign that something is wrong. It is also impossible not to see a duck and 12 duckings on the road. (We used to have them on the corporate complex I worked at. We sat there until they passed all the time.

[flvegan]

13. Joshua Linhares is a douchebag.

Hope to hell this post comes up when he Googles his name.

Joshua Linhares is a douchebag.

Joshua Linhares is a douchebag.

Joshua Linhares is a douchebag.

[ecstatic]

14. I doubt he did it on purpose. He's just a young, wreckless driver

My little brother ran into a stationary pile of logs in his own neighborhood. Besides, who wants dead animals on their bumper?

[Nikki Stone1]

16. She got more time than the KBR rapists.

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