A 17-year-old Florida boy was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Friday for the fatal shooting of a retired police dog, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported.
Ivins Rosier was found guilty in May on charges of cruelty to animals with a firearm, burglary of a dwelling with a firearm and shooting into a building in connection with the Nov. 18, 2012 shooting of the dog while breaking into Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Robert Boody’s home. Rosier’s co-defendant, 20-year-old Gilson Gilles, is still awaiting trial on the same charges.
Prosecutors noted to the jury that Rosier confessed to breaking into the residence while wearing a GPS bracelet because of a previous burglary arrest. The Associated Press reported that Rosier had refused to take a plea agreement requiring him to serve a 20-year sentence.
Rosier’s attorney, Jack Fleischman, told the Sun-Sentinel that he would seek a new trial for his client, saying his indictment violated his right to be tried as a juvenile and that prosecutors did not present any DNA, fingerprints or weapon connecting his client to the dog’s death.
“Mere presence at the scene of a crime is insufficient to convict,” Fleischman said. If you take his statement out, what’s left? They have zero evidence.”
