Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A woman was ordered Thursday to stand trial on animal cruelty charges after a judge viewed part of a pornographic videotape that showed her apparently stomping mice to death.
Municipal Court Judge Bruce Minto, after viewing the tape, ordered Diane Chaffin, 35, to appear in his court in suburban West Covina Sept. 9 to answer three felony charges of torturing, maiming and killing mice. Each charge carries up to three years in jail.
Chaffin remains jailed in lieu of $45,000 bail.
Prosecutors allege that the video was shot in Chaffin’s parents’ home by her co-defendant, Gary Thomason. He surrendered in Minto’s court shortly after Chaffin had been ordered to stand trial, and faces the same charges.
The judge viewed the videotape in his chambers. It was not shown in open court.
According to court papers, investigators found numerous live animals and several so-called “crush” videos — in which animals are killed by nude men and women, generally during sex acts — in Thomason’s home.
As many as 2,000 “crush” videos are for sale on the Internet, according to police.
