Hoffman guilty of killing dog
BY MARY PERHAM GATEHOUSE MEDIA

BATH - Jake Hoffman was found guilty of felony aggravated animal cruelty on Tuesday, April 8, despite claims by the defense he was too drunk to know what he was doing when he beat a cocker spaniel to death and mutilated the dog's body last summer in Savona.

Hoffman, 26, of Hornell, was found guilty by Steuben County Judge Joseph Latham after a two-day bench trial. He was charged with killing and mutilating his aunt's 10-year old cocker spaniel, Kaiser, last July after a night of heavy drinking.

Steuben County Assistant District Attorney Patricio Jimenez credited the verdict to "thorough and very professional" investigations of the incident by the county's animal cruelty officer, Scott Mazzo, and county Sheriff Inv. Walter Feely.

Jimenez said earlier reports the prosecution was charging the brutal slaying may have been part of a cult-like ritual were untrue.

"There was a lot of misrepresentation about that," he said. "It was never part of the allegation."

What the prosecution did charge was that Hoffman - along with a friend, Jeremy James - beat and bludgeoned the captive dog, chained outside the family home in Savona, late at night after a long drinking binge at a nearby gravel pit.

Hoffman is a Savona native.

The defense maintained the drinking binge left Hoffman too drunk to know what he was doing, and stated that he voluntarily sought rehabilitation after the grisly incident.

Post-trial motions for Hoffman are scheduled for May 27, with sentencing set for June 16. He faces up to two years in state prison.

Jimenez said the final sentencing decision is up to Judge Latham, with in put from probation and the District Attorney's Office.