Courthouse watch: 8.10.09
If it seems like just last week that Thomas Clouse was reporting on a former Spokesman-Review employee being sentenced for a sex-related crime, that's because it was.
Here's Clouse's report on the sentencing of a former employee of The Spokesman-Review, who received a 12-month suspended sentence today when he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possessing child pornography.
Zachary L. Likarich, 31, was charged in 2007 with 21 counts of possessing child pornography that investigators alleged he obtained while working as an online marketing developer for the company.
Likarich was fired from The Spokesman-Review Jan. 22, 2007, the same day the company’s former online publisher and an attorney contacted police after reviewing the contents of a computer that had been assigned to Likarich.
Superior Court Judge Michael Price sentenced Likarich to a 12-month suspended sentence, meaning he won’t serve any time in prison if he completes the conditions imposed by the court.
The sentence also includes three years supervision by the state Department of Corrections and he must register as a sex offender.
Read past coverage of the case here and here.
Also, a man accused of animal cruelty pleaded innocent to the charge today. Read Clouse's report by clicking on the link below.
A Cheney man pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge of animal cruelty after witnesses reported seeing him throw a beagle into a kennel.
According to a police report, witnesses also saw 27-year-old Casey J. Price holding the female beagle, named Roxy, by her throat and holding the dog’s mouth to keep her from crying out.
Officer Francisca Rapier, of Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service, told police that she did a welfare check on Roxy on June 6 and found the dog tethered on a short wire connected to the dog’s collar. The dog could not reach her dog house and did not respond to Rapier, who also noticed the dog wasn’t breathing properly.
In a later visit to 3210 Meadow Glen Lane in Cheney, Price agreed to release the dog to SCRAPS because Rapier did not believe the dog was safe in his care. Price said the dog may have been injured when she fell trying to climb over a fence to get to another beagle he owns.
But a witness told police that he saw Price throw and hit the dog.
Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark released Price on his own recognizance Monday and set a trial date for Nov. 2.