TEXARKANA, Texas–A man facing 12 counts of felony animal cruelty for allegedly torturing and killing dogs was denied a bid to lower his $600,000 bail on Thursday by an appellate court in Texarkana.
Stuart Duncan Hammonds, 24, allegedly took canines belonging to other people and some he found through online sources and killed them on property in rural Bowie County in Simms, Texas, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Following his arrest in mid-October last year for 12 counts of felony animal cruelty, Hammonds’ bail was set at $100,000 on each count, or $1.2 million. Following a hearing in June, that amount was cut in half by 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
Hammonds appealed the ruling to the Sixth District Court of Appeals in Texarkana, arguing that the amount was so high he could not possibly reach it and that Judge Tidwell’s ruling essentially amounted to being held without bail.
The appellate court sided with Judge Tidwell, noting that Hammonds “presented no evidence of exhausted funds or specific efforts to furnish bail in any amount.”
“Hammonds presented no testimony as to the amount that he could afford and no evidence of attempts to post bail or of his or his family’s resources,” the appellate court said Thursday. “Accordingly, we find that the trial court, in considering the factors above, acted within the guidelines when deciding to reduce the bond amount by half, to $600,000.00, or $50,000.00 per offense.”
The appeals court noted testimony at the June hearing regarding Hammonds’ strong ties to Bowie County, that he is a U.S. citizen without a passport, and that he would have employment upon release from custody.
“However, Hammonds was indicted on twelve separate counts of cruelty to non-livestock animals, in which the state alleged that Hammonds harmed, tortured, and killed dogs in various violent ways,” the Thursday opinion said.
The appellate court noted that Hammonds faces up to ten years and a fine up to $10,000 on each count.
“Because Hammonds faces a significant potential sentence, the trial court could have reasonably concluded a possibility existed that Hammonds would not appear for trial,” the appellate court said.
Hammonds has been held in the Bowie County jail since his arrest in mid-October last year.
He came to the attention of authorities after a woman alerted local enforcement of information that Hammonds had killed her missing dogs, according to a probable cause affidavit. A witness reported that they had seen Hammonds kill a neighbor’s dogs and puppies by “choking them and slamming them around until they died,” the affidavit said.
When investigators visited the property where Hammonds lived, they could smell the odor of decay and observed the skeletal remains of numerous dogs, the affidavit said. Near a camper where Hammonds was living and scattered about a barn on the property, investigators found the carcasses of seven dogs, the affidavit said. Other remains were discovered beneath a rubber mat and cardboard box near the barn, the affidavit said.
Investigators listed the remains as belonging to dogs described as: an adult female tan and white Pitbull-type, three six-month-old mixed breed puppies, two black and tan hound-type dogs, a German Shepherd, a black and white Great Dane, an adult female mixed-breed dog, a Pitbull dog of an unknown color, and two Beagle-type dogs, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also seized a couple of living dogs being kept on the property.
Hammonds is scheduled to appear before Judge Tidwell later this month for a pretrial hearing.