Beating a dog to death with a shovel in the desert outside Palm Springs has brought a five-year state prison sentence to the killer.
The defendant from the small town of Whitewater pleaded guilty to a felony animal cruelty charge. He was immediately sentenced to five years in state prison for fatally beating 3-year-old terrier mix “Rusty” with a shovel and then dumping the dog over a fence to get it out of his yard.
Efren Rodriguez Martinez, 55, entered the guilty plea after withdrawing a not guilty plea Thursday afternoon to animal cruelty and a sentence-enhancing allegation for using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
Department of Animal Services Commander Chris Mayer thanked Deputy District Attorney Sylwia Luttrell for her work on the case.
“The prosecutor took the severity of this dog beating very seriously. Prison terms are not common for a majority of our animal cruelty cases, so we find it extremely satisfying to learn that Mr. Martinez received this level of punishment.”
Mayer also thanked Martinez’s neighbors for reporting his actions and for their assistance to Animal Control officers.
“Several residents in Whitewater loved this dog, and some of them provided very important details and witness statements that assisted our department — and the prosecutor — to have success in the courts. We want to extend our thank you for those that stepped up in making sure the man responsible for the horrendous death of Rusty be held accountable.”
Martinez, who was previously found incompetent to stand trial, admitted to the June 8, 2015, beating of a dog that was found suffering from severe injuries and died two days later at the VCA Valley Animal Medical Center in Indio.
Neighbors told responding Animal Control officers they witnessed Martinez hitting the dog over the head with a shovel and then scooping him up and over his back fence into the desert.
The dog, a stray that nearby residents fed and took to calling “Rusty,” was found behind Martinez’s property breathing heavily, whimpering and mostly motionless, according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant prepared by Animal Control Officer Kyle Stephens.
“The dog appeared to be severely injured, covered in blood and in pain,” Stephens wrote.
Martinez was arrested July 7, 2015, at the Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella, after several weeks on the lam.
In the declaration, Stephens wrote that officers spoke with Martinez the day the dog was attacked, at his home on Kimdale Drive.
Martinez told the officers he was asleep and knew nothing about it.
The officers asked if they could search his property for the shovel, but Martinez refused to grant them access, according to the declaration.
“Mr. Martinez stated multiple times that he would bring `the one’ to the gate,” Stephens wrote. “I felt as if he was referring to the shovel he may have used to hit the stray dog.”
A neighbor who witnessed the beating told investigators that he asked Martinez why he hit the dog about 10 minutes after the beating.
“Yelling and using profanity, Mr. Martinez told (the witness) he would kill any animal or person that came onto his property,” Stephens wrote.
Martinez was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial earlier this year, but received a certificate of restoration from Patton State Hospital in September.
— City News Service