Terrence Cody, a former Ravens defensive tackle who was released by the team in February, was convicted Monday of multiple misdemeanors in a case stemming
from the death of a dog he owned. Maryland prosecutors argued that Cody, along with his girlfriend, had neglected the animal, a Canary mastiff, to the point where it starved to death over the course of about a month.
Judge Judith C. Ensor of the Baltimore County Circuit Court convicted Cody of nine misdemeanor charges, including aggravated animal cruelty and neglect, illegal possession and neglect of an alligator and possession of marijuana. The 27-year-old avoided conviction on a pair of felony charges, but he could face up to three years in jail.
“At the end of the story, this case was always about respect for animals and that you don’t get a free pass for killing your own dog,” Baltimore County Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Lippe said (via WBALTV11).
She added: “The science is that a dog will take time to starve just like a person. He let this dog starve over more than four weeks and there was no excuse for it. In the end, that dog was eating trash and eating bones to survive.”
Defense attorneys argued that Cody had no intention to kill the dog. They pointed out that he took the animal to a veterinarian before it died, although that occurred too late to save it.
Prosecutors noted that the dog once weighed at least 100 pounds, but that it was under 50 at the time of its death. An attorney for the girlfriend, Kourtney J. Kelley, who also lived in Cody’s Reisterstown, Md., home at the time, claimed that she had no responsibility to take care of the dog, but Ensor convicted her of five misdemeanors.
From a report by the Baltimore Sun:
[Jose] Molina [Kelley’s attorney] argued during the trial that the drug paraphernalia, marijuana and alligator belonged to Cody, not Kelley. He also said Taz was solely the property of Cody.Ensor scheduled sentencing Jan. 5 for Cody and Jan. 22 for Kelley. Each faces more than a year of jail plus fines. The couple has two young children.
Cody was a second-round pick out of Alabama in the 2010 draft. He appeared in 57 games for the Ravens, including 21 starts
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