September 30, 2008
Cat Killer Speaks Out as Retrial Remains Possible
Joseph Petcka, whose trial for animal cruelty ended in a mistrial, has been making the rounds with the media to work on his image. He appeared on the Today Show and Inside Edition, where he said, "I hope there's something I can do in this lifetime that will make them see that I'm a person that loves animals."
Petcka, a 205-pound former minor league player in the Mets farm system and now aspiring actor, kicked his then-girlfriend's 7-pound declawed cat so badly that the cat died of extensive injuries--broken ribs, broken teeth, lacerate tongue, a chest full of blood. Eleven jurors believed that Petcka deliberately wanted to hurt the cat (prosecutors suggested Petcka was jealous of the cat and took his anger at his girlfriend out on the feline), while one juror held out, believing that Petcka did not intend to hurt the animal. (Petcka says he's thankful for that one juror.)
Petcka's defense lawyer Charles Hochbaum sought to clear up nuances of the case with Today's Matt Lauer, "We’ve never suggested this is self-defense. What we suggested is this was a bad reaction to a bad situation. What the law … requires is depraved and sadistic conduct, which was never present in this case.” Hochbaum added that the charge was "ridiculous."
The Manhattan DA's office says it's considering its option, including a retrial. Petcka is back to waiting tables and told Lauer, “I love New York. I’ve always been a big fan of it. This is one incident that happened that I can’t take back, and I feel extremely sorry that this happened. It was not a fun situation.”
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To be fair: cats are annoying.
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I don't care what he says.
when cats don't like you, they hiss. you leave them alone. end of story.
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what a class A lying doucher, i don't want to see him on any screen or stage ever
may every cat in the city hunt him down and cover him in furr balls
i know it's just a cat but the guy is such a lying actor douche
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It was not a fun situation.
Yeah, I bet the cat will second that, let's get it's comment...
"_________________"
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I don't believe him nor do buy the, "it's just a cat" argument.
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animal abuse = sociopath
period
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Wow. Damn, I don't know now. I've flipped a bit on this Seriously. And I'm not trolling. It's a bit like: okay, jeez, maybe the guy kicked to thing once by bad decision and just meant to, like, kinda toss it away from him(?) but hurt it and never meant to?
I would want to ask the vet some questions: primarily do the injuries suggest a number of kicks or one kick that set of a chain of unintended injuries, etc.
The thing that keeps me coming back to this guy being fcking sick tho is the "Tongue and lip lacerations" WTF????
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This guy should not be making tv appearances. "Stay tuned - after a word from our sponsors, we have the guy that kicked his girlfriend's 7 pound cat to death."
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The one holdout juror must have also dated my old girlfriend whose cat would whine at 5 AM every morning until you woke up. I hated that damned cat.
How come in every story about his guy we have to hear that weighs 205 pounds? The cat weighed 7 pounds, so what's the difference what he weighed because no matter what it was a lot more than the cat.
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that guy is just a sick mofo. Airing his sick mofo talk is just air contamination.
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Yes Amanda, this man is a sicko and I hope he is retrial. anyhow what restaurant is his waiting tables? I would never eat at that place.
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I boycott the New York post now because of Andra Peyser who stated the cat deserved every blow. I refused their free copies all the time. who would take that shitty paper but less buy it?
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The Today show has sunk to a new low in lows by having those two turds on the program.
It would have been great if Matt Lauer had kicked him in the stomach.
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He's not an aspiring actor. He's been aspiring for the last nine years. Nine years and all he got were seven bit parts. More like a failed actor wannabe.
I guarantee this guy will hurt someone or something again. He's already demonstrated his violent streak against not only Norman, but two girlfriends. What kind of man grabs a sleeping woman's neck? "A bad reaction to a bad situation"? Seems he has a lot of those. If he's so sorry, why didn't he say so when Altobelli called him up? And when Petcka does show his true colors again, DeFlaviis will just shrug and say, "How was I to know?" Hochbaum is the kind of mercenary snake that gives lawyers a bad name. As long as a client promises to pay him, he'll say anything.
Give it up, Petcka. Most people have you pegged and all your crocodile tears won't change that.
[8] Read the stories covering the trial. The vet already testified that this couldn't possibly be the result of one kick. Petcka had to have grabbed Norman and then kicked him with the force that someone might use on a soccer ball. And he was probably slammed against something like the edge of a counter. Even if Petcka doesn't have a sadistic streak, which is hard to believe, he's demonstrated complete indifference to the health and welfare of others.
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ugh, yes the today show is a joke. Can believe they would interview such losers. wth???? I would have love it if they fed him to the lions.
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douchebag fuck him
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Let's hope that all women he comes in contact with in the future have his picture burned in their memories, whether they be cat owners or not.
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What was up with his eye? Looked all bloodshot? I thought he was going to explode and kick Matt Lauers ass.
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What's next for Matt Lauer and the Today Show? The guy who outraged Springfield Ohio by dragging a puppy with its leash after it messed in his bowling bag? I love pets as much as anyone but this spectacle is beyond belief.
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Retry him. This time, make sure there isn't an inhuman idiot on the jury who doesn't think that murdering a cat, especially something done so heinously, isn't deserving of a stiff punishment nor deserving of being a felony, which that dirtbag juror said he believed. This murdering scum isn't likely to be that lucky twice. When he goes to jail, he'll be where he belongs: where people like him are considered among the lowest order, like rapists and child molesters. Prisoners tend to punish people like that in their own special ways. Even that's too good for him.
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We rarely see a fair trial and the reason for this is that the DA's office has large resources while the defendant has to pay for everything himself. The DA called a Vet as an expert witness but there was no rebuttal by the defendant's expert witness probably because Petcka couldn't afford it. You've heard 1/2 the case, the malicious Prosecutor's side. Kermani should have been immediately stopped by the judge and cited for contempt when she went into that bitter feminist diatribe against Petcka. And yes, one kick can cause those injuries. Under NY Law a person may defend himself against an aggressive animal and there is no "reasonable force" provision.
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We rarely see a fair trial and the reason for this is that the DA's office has large resources while the defendant has to pay for everything himself. The DA called a Vet as an expert witness but there was no rebuttal by the defendant's expert witness probably because Petcka couldn't afford it. You've heard 1/2 the case, the malicious Prosecutor's side. Kermani should have been immediately stopped by the judge and cited for contempt when she went into that bitter feminist diatribe against Petcka. And yes, one kick can cause those injuries. Under NY Law a person may defend himself against an aggressive animal and there is no "reasonable force" provision.
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It figures, he was in the Mets farm system.
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what a cruel bastard and I hope he gets run over by a car.
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Barbie8: I guess those women just can't resist him. We all know they think with their c*nts. One chance to be with Petcka and the cat goes flying out the window. Cat? What cat? Did you see a cat? haha
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I would love to know where he's working and, I'm sure, many others would too.
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^Yeah, I didn't know there was an IHOP in NYC.