Baltimore – Eleven of twelve jurors wanted to convict Travers and Tremayne Johnson for the cruelty inflicted on Phoenix, the Pitbull who was was doused in gasoline and set on fire in 2009. The twelfth juror held out on reasonable doubt. Therefore, a mistrial was declared. Unless the State’s Attorney decides to retry the case, there will be no justice for Phoenix. Polite requests for a retrial can be made here:
Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City
208 Mitchell Courthouse
110 North Calvert Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-396-4001
Thanks to Jeanne and Clarice for sending in the mistrial news.
Thanks for posting this. The Baltimore Sun is polling readers on whether they want a new trial. So far, 88% of 1078 responders say, “Yes.”
YAY! thanks for posting this. I’ve been trying to spread the word to all kinds of pit bull/dog blogs all over with not much luck.
It’s so important for the citizens in Baltimore to stand up and do something about this injustice.
Even if your not from Baltimore, you can help. Mr. Bernstein won’t be able to ignore the outpouring of support to retry!
Thanks again!!:)
I took the time to contact them and was given this information to use in contacting them DIRECTLY in regards to this case –
You can call them at 1 (443) 984-1121 or you can e-mail directly at mcheshire@stattorney.org
This way it goes DIRECTLY to the person/people who are responsible for handling this. I told the gentleman who answered the phone that this was for a blog that is trying to drum up support to see that this case is retried and he was very polite in granting permission for this information to be posted so that we can spread the word!!!!
Thank you Erica.
No problem – anything that can help! It sucks that a mistrial was delcared and these guys need brought to justice! Phoenix deserves it….so everybody get the word out!
Thanks for the link. I just sent my . . . respectful email to the attorney. Hope others do the same and that it helps. These kinds of things need to be punished and stopped.
I’ve set up a petition to make it easy to email the State’s Attorney’s Office:
http://www.change.org/petitions/urge-states-attorney-to-seek-justice-for-dog-burned-alive
Thanks for getting this out there.
Perfect – will share this with everyone I know!
Clarice just sent me some good news:
The men will be retried on May 4.
Great news! Thanks to everyone who spoke out — over 750 emails were sent from the Change.org petition!
I get absolutely livid reading about these types of cases. When are the lawmakers going to finally get it and see that there’s a link between animal cruelty and serious criminal acts against humans?
Laws need to be tougher when it comes to animal cruelty. As for this beautiful little dog, Phoenix, tears come to my eyes as I write this. Despite everything that she was put through, she still had the capacity to love.
And to all of the wonderful people..from the police officer who rescued her to the people who cared and took care of her, I know that her passing must have been difficult. Thank god for those who at least made her last days comfortable filled with kindness and love.
Any update on the Johnson brothers? I’ve been searching for recent news but haven’t found anything.
Teaching children from a young age compassion and respect for all living things would be a great start.
And parents really need to get more involved in their children’s lives. In other words, stick your noses in your teens business, know what’s going on.
Great blog!