AWESOME news article on Jay Baldwin serial cat killer case...
Cruelty case me be closed to public
By KATE RAMUNNI
Staff writer
Article Launched: 11/10/2008 11:04:25 PM EST
DERBY -- The public defender for Jay Baldwin, the former Ansonia resident accused of killing at least one kitten and mistreating several others that had to be euthanized, will ask Judge Karen Sequino Friday to close further proceedings in the case to the public -- much to the dismay of animal-rights advocates.
Baldwin, 57, was next due to appear in Derby Superior Court Nov. 25, when it is expected Sequino will rule on Public Defender Jonathan Gable's request for a newly created diversionary program for mentally ill offenders. But on Friday Gable will argue that the case should no longer be open to the public. He wouldn't say why he made the request.
"I don't have to tell you that," he told a reporter.
Gable's request comes after one animal-rights advocate was thrown out of the Derby courthouse.
Donna Ploss has been vocal in her belief that people who abuse animals are likely to also abuse people, especially children. On two occasions, her comments about Baldwin raised Gable's ire, and the last time he had her removed from the courthouse.
Ploss said she was waiting in line at the prosecutor's office when she made the remark to someone standing behind her.
"I said, 'If this guy ever gets out, he's going to go after little kids,' " she said. "He called the marshal over and had me taken out." A judicial marshal also told her that every time "you people" -- meaning those involved in animal rescues -- show up at court, they create chaos, Ploss said.
Last month, Gable asked the court to consider Baldwin for a new supervised diversionary program that went into effect Oct 1; it is similar to accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation for first-time offenders of less serious crimes, but is geared for those who may be suffering from a mental illness.
If granted later this month, Baldwin would be released from custody but put under a number of conditions imposed by the court that would closely monitor him.
That prospect has Ansonia resident Irene Hudabenko discouraged and disgusted.
She said she is discouraged that the man who adopted and reportedly killed the kitten she gave him might be granted a form of probation that would wipe out any record of the crime for which he is accused.
And, she said, she is disgusted at how she says the court system doesn't take animal cruelty charges seriously.
Hudabenko had two autopsies done on the kitten's body that showed, among other things, that the kitten didn't die from ingesting rat poison, as Gable has suggested. According to the reports, the kitten's head was filled with blood, suggesting it may have been struck or thrown against a wall.
"He tested negative for every active ingredient found in rat poisoning," Hudabenko said.
She also fears for her own safety, she said. It was her investigation into her kitten's death that led to the 10 counts of animal cruelty being lodged against Baldwin, and she said she fears retribution.
Equally disgusted is Shelton resident Elisa Osso. She said Baldwin came to her a year ago to adopt a cat, which also turned up dead just two weeks later.
"He seemed very sympathetic and sincere," she said. "He said he had just lost his cat and he was lonely, and when he picked up the cat he was in tears."
Osso said she was happy to have made what appeared to be an ideal placement for the homeless cat. But two weeks later, she received a call from Baldwin reporting the cat had died, she said.
"Two weeks later, he called and said the cat hadn't been eating and had died," she said. "He wanted another cat, but I said I didn't think so because his story just didn't pan out." She later learned that the Stratford Cat Project, for which she volunteers, had Baldwin on a "do-not-adopt" list as someone who abuses animals, Osso said.
Meanwhile, Hudabenko says she's baffled as to how, as the victim of the case, she could be barred from finding out what happens to Baldwin.
"Why are they trying to protect him so much?" she said.
