Across Georgia

Bill aimed at dog fight watchers passes House

ATLANTA --- The Georgia House voted overwhelmingly Monday to approve a proposal that would for the first time make it a crime in Georgia to attend a dog fight.

The House voted 165-6 to allow prosecutors to charge spectators of dog fights with a misdemeanor penalty which carries up to a year in jail and a maximum $5,000 fine.

The bill also allows prosecutors to charge people who hold dog fights or train their canines for dogfighting with a felony.

The Senate passed a similar bill last year, but it failed to reach a vote. Animal rights activists say the case of Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback who was sentenced to 23 months in prison on federal dogfighting charges, has given the proposal a new sense of urgency.

Dogfighting is already illegal in Georgia, but current law allows only people caught in the act to be charged with a misdemeanor. Critics say the lax laws make it difficult for prosecutors to charge people who breed fighting dogs and set up matches.

Soldier's murder ruling upheld by high court

ATLANTA --- The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of a soldier for participating in the beating, stabbing and incineration of a fellow infantryman.

In an order released Monday, the court unanimously upheld the conviction and life sentence for Mario Roberto Navarrete in the July 2003 slaying of Spc. Richard Davis.

Mr. Navarrete, of San Juan, Texas, was one of four former soldiers sentenced in Spc. Davis' death.

Mr. Navarrete's attorneys say their client tried to stop the killing, and argued that a Muscogee County trial court made a number of errors when he was convicted in 2006.

But the state's high court noted Mr. Navarrete was a party to the murder in that he beat Spc. Davis, helped burn the body, served as a lookout at the burial and never reported the crime.

The killing took place a day after the five had returned to Fort Benning after serving a six-month tour in Iraq.

-- Associated Press