It's eight more days in jail for convicted cat killer

Justice of the Peace David Ortley read and re-read an unprecedented stack of 120 letters before he sentenced Jon Lawler, 19, for cruelty to animals Friday.

Lawler admits taking kittens that were "free to good homes" and using them to train his Walker hound, Faith. He says he turned the cats loose, let his dog run them down and tree them, and then he shot them.

He says he sees now the error of his ways.

"I learned my lesson," he told Ortley.

He'll have eight more days in jail, after 12 already served, to make sure that lesson sinks in. While he's there, he can read two books on hunting ethics that Ortley assigned him to read and report on.

"What Mr. Lawler did was reprehensible," said prosecuting Deputy County Attorney Tim Wenz. He recommended a sentence of one year in jail, with all but 30 days suspended on each of two counts of cruelty, representing each of two cats. He also recommended a total of 100 hours' community service work at a facility for animals, a $1,000 fine, and a letter of apology to the cat owners.

"It's a harsh sentence for Mr. Lawler, but it also fits the crime in this case," Wenz said.

Lawler hoped for a deferred sentence with no more jail time.

"I don't plan on doing this again… I want to move on, support my wife and the child we have on the way," he said.

Ortley spoke of the letters he has received as he sentenced Lawler in a packed courtroom.

While the public outcry indicates the community's conscience on the issue, he disagrees with some of the extreme opinions offered.

"I don't have any reason to believe you are going to become a serial killer" as some people suggested, Ortley said.

Ortley said the court deals with matters as serious as domestic violence and abuse and neglect of children, but doesn't see a public reaction to those social problems on the scale he did in this case.

A petition by Kootenai Pets for Life in Libby bears 44 signatures of people who object to Lawler's "deep inhumanity… We ask that Mr. Lawler be prosecuted to the full extent of the law to stop this inhumane treatment of animals," the petition states.

"Somehow, this drew all kinds of attention," Ortley said.

He gave Lawler's sentence a great deal of thought, he said.

He's troubled that Lawler lied to the cat owner about his intentions for her pets. And at first, Lawler seemed "oblivious to any sense of right and wrong.

"These things generated a lot of animosity in the community," he said.

He lifted the stack of letters on his bench and said, "This is the community speaking."

Ortley said he knows some other houndsmen train their dogs in the way that Lawler did. But, he said, "There is no doubt that was cruelty to animals and I hope that you agree."

His sentence for Lawler was lighter than what Wenz recommended and stiffer than what Lawler hoped for.

On the first count, he sentenced Lawler to a year in jail and suspended the whole term. He also suspended a $1,000 fine.

On the second count, Ortley sentenced Lawler to a year in jail and suspended all but 20 days and gave him credit for 12 days already served. Ortley imposed $1,060 in fines and surcharges and suspended all but $560.

The sentences will run consecutively, so Lawler has two years' suspended jail time. During that period, he must remain law-abiding and prove to the community "that you are not the monster you are portrayed to be," Ortley told him.

The judge rejected the idea of a letter of apology, saying he has no way of knowing if it would be sincere.

But he did require Lawler to read and write his thoughts about two books on hunting ethics: "Beyond Fair Chase" and "Inherit the Hunt." The judge has done the same thing with big-game poachers in the past.

Ortley also ordered Lawler to not hunt mountain lions during the two-year period.

"You are a very young man. You did something incredibly stupid," Ortley said. "You have amends to make."

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com