1998 animal cruelty case finally resolved

A two-year-old misdemeanor animal torture case was finally resolved Thursday with a plea bargain in Carson City Justice Court.

Kris Stenz, 52, was originally arrested in March 1998 when a neighbor reported that Stenz had shot a friend's dog twice with a BB gun.

The neighbor told police that when confronted, Stenz pulled a revolver and said, "How would you like to be shot? Not with a BB gun, but with a .44 Magnum."

When deputies arrived they asked Stenz if he had a pistol in the house, at which time he picked a gun off a chair. When deputies drew their weapons and told him to put the gun down, he threw it to another recliner, reports indicate.

In addition to animal torture, Stenz was also charged with felony assault against a peace officer and a gross misdemeanor of pointing a firearm at a person. He was found innocent of those charges during a jury trial last December.

When Judge John Ray, who heard the preliminary examination in the case, signed an order of conviction in February on the animal cruelty charge, Stenz challenged the conviction. He said testimony given at the preliminary hearing should not have been used against him on the animal cruelty charge.

Deputy District Attorney David Morandi, prosecutor in the case, did not challenge the motion, and a new trial was set for Thursday. The trial was unnecessary however, because Stenz agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct as a provision of the plea agreement.

He was sentenced to 15 days in jail suspended for one year provided he is not arrested for suspicion of disorderly conduct or animal cruelty. Under the previous conviction signed by Ray he was sentenced to 30 days in jail suspended.