Gilroy man could get life for Chihuahua's death

05-19) 18:40 PDT Gilroy, Calif. (AP) --

A Gilroy man charged with killing the Chihuahua puppy he gave his wife as a Mother's Day gift is facing a possible life sentence because he already has four assault with a deadly weapon convictions. .

The San Jose Mercury News reports that Bud Wally Ruiz was charged Wednesday with two felony counts of cruelty to animals after he allegedly threw the 6-week-old dog across a room during an argument with his wife. Ruiz also was charged with one misdemeanor count of spousal battery.

Because of his prior convictions, Santa Clara County prosecutors could try Ruiz under California's "three strikes" law. The law imposes a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life on repeat offenders charged with violent crimes.

Marcella Ruiz tells the Mercury News that she thinks her husband did not mean to hurt the puppy. She says had asked him to leave her house and when she objected to his taking the dog, he threw the bag in which he had put the animal in her direction. The bag hit the wall and Teddy was killed.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/19/state/n184059D31.DTL

He already has FOUR assault w/a deadly weapon convictions, so why didn't he get third-striked after the 3rd assault? :shrug:

I have no problem with him doing time. Life? Not sure but she needs to get away from him.

but she's definitely in denial.

She is still adorable, and I would do some serious damage to anyone who would harm my dog.

He's lucky he hasn't met me yet . . . .

This is probably it.

I mean YOU KNOW it can't kill you unless you're paralyzed from the neck down

Sure, they may annoy you, but that's something a small bag of the right treats can fix

I would never want a Chihuahua, but I've made friends with many and rescued a few