New York, December 19: A New York man who drunkenly stomped his girlfriend’s cat to death in 2007 after screaming at her, “You love that cat more than me” has been allowed to walk free.
Joseph Petcka, a D-list actor and former New York Mets minor league pitcher, walked out of Manhattan Supreme Court with just a misdemeanor record, the New York Post reported.
“I guess it’s hard to put it into words,” Petcka said as he left court, when asked if he was glad to get the ugly incident behind him.
Petcka kicked Norman with steel-toed biker boots, causing injuries that vets likened to a pet hit by a car.
Petcka made headlines last year by insisting Norman had it coming.
For two days in September 2008, he took the witness stand and said the cat “bared his fangs,” and repeatedly “lunged” and “growled” at him before sinking said fangs into his hand, in his girlfriend’s apartment.
But prosecutor Leila Kermani suggested that Petcka bludgeoned Norman to death in a drunken rage, after getting dumped by his more successful girlfriend, Sports Illustrated reporter Lisa Altobelli.
Petcka’s 2008 trial ended in mistrial after a single holdout juror believed the “self defence” claim. He pleaded guilty in 2008, and his sentencing was put off until he could complete 500 hours of community service.
Court documents say Petcka spent 476 hours serving the homeless at a soup kitchen, and another 33 hours singing and assisting with crafts at an arts therapy charity.
–Agencies