sara

Sara

Source

On January 5, 2001, in Napa, California, an eight-month-old female kitten named Sara was beaten, taken from her neighborhood and later set on fire. According to the police, Martin Berg, a pizza deliveryman, was making a delivery at that time. Berg allegedly struck the kitten with a flashlight and then put her in his vehicle. Upon reaching his destination, the suspect removed the injured kitten, put lighter fluid on her and set her on fire. The suspect then drove away. An unidentified witness called a veterinarian, who was unable to save the kitten. She was still alive, the vet said; "She was in so much distress."

Officers arrested the suspect shortly after the incident. They stated that they found evidence in his vehicle, including an animal trap, a can of charcoal lighter fluid, a bloodied flashlight and animal fur on the floorboard. Berg, who has been free since posting $65,000 bail on January 6, 2001, has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty and one count of arson. He has told investigators that he wanted to get even with Sara and wanted her to suffer for trying to scratch him. He also reportedly admitted to police a prior incident of beating a cat to death with a flashlight.

Please ask Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein to prosecute Martin Berg to the fullest extent of the law. Request that no plea bargain be allowed that does not include a felony conviction and prison time.

Gary Lieberstein
Office of the Napa District Attorney
931 Parkway Mall
Napa, CA 94559
Phone: (707) 253-4211
Fax: (707) 253-4041

Recommend that on sentencing day the Judge consider the degree of violence of this crime and the danger the suspect presents to the community.

Judge Snowden
Napa Superior Court
Department G
1111 3rd Street
Napa, CA 94559
Phone: (707) 253-4481 ext. 284
Fax: (707) 251-1088

For more information, contact http://www.voicesforpets.com

Voices for the Pets also has a downloadable petition that you may print out and sign and give to other people to sign. We encourage you to visit and do your part to work for Justice for Sara. Click on the following for the petition: Petition

Martin Berg returned to Napa from San Quentin on Monday June 25th. On June 27, he made a brief appearance in court to schedule his formal sentencing.

He was originally charged with two counts of animal cruelty and one count of arson. However, the arson charge was dismissed when no "owner" of Sara could be found. (In California, arson is
defined as involving damage to "property," and an "owner" would have had to be located in order for Sara to be considered "property.")

At a hearing on May 17th, Judge W. Scott Snowden had ordered Berg sent to San Quentin for a period not to exceed 90 days, for diagnosis and evaluation prior to sentencing. The diagnosis and evaluation was to include, as requested by the D.A. and consented to by the judge, "a full diagnostic, which includes the full psychological background as well as the correctional counseling aspect."

The Napa Police Department report of Berg's murder of Sara (case no. 01-000182, dated 1/5/01) is chilling. It includes a statement by the reporting officer that Berg admitted to beating another cat to death two weeks prior to killing Sara. There is also mentioned an incident of another cat being set on fire at the First Baptist Church about 100 yards from Berg's residence. Berg denied responsibility for this, but Animal Services Officer Thomas Scott was to investigate the incident further. However,
without an eyewitness, it is unlikely Berg will ever be charged for any of his crimes against other victims.

As tremendously disturbing as this case is, it should be mentioned that a number of individuals in the community, as well as law enforcement officials, have responded with speed and concern. Several witnesses to the events surrounding Sara's death on January 4 acted quickly to try to help
Sara and to help police identify and apprehend her killer. One witness attempted to put the fire out by throwing her shirt over Sara. A bucket of water was obtained from a neighbor and thrown over Sara. A veterinarian was called, as well as 911. An attempt, though unsuccessful, was made by one of
the witnesses to identify the perpetrator by calling the pizza company he worked for. And all witnesses gave statements to the police, who followed up appropriately and were able to identify and apprehend Berg that same night.

Afterwards, the district attorney did not drop the charges to misdemeanors, as so often happens, but even included in the plea bargain the agreement that the felony charges remain as felonies.

One troubling aspect of the May 17th hearing was the judge's response to receiving letters from the community regarding Berg. Judge Snowden said, "I've been getting a lot of correspondence directed to the Court and it is, of course, improper for the Court to receive such correspondence. And I
understand the passion with which people view certain sorts of cases and the passion with which people view this case, but receiving such correspondence puts the Court in a big -- puts me, as a judge, in a very difficult position. . . . I'm not saying anybody has done anything wrong, by making the effort, but I need to make it clear that it's not proper for me to read or consider such correspondence."

Judge Snowden's comments surprised Voices For Pets, as we have never in the past experienced such a reaction from a judge. In fact, in at least four cases Voices For Pets has responded to, the judges have acknowledged and accepted petitions from Voices For Pets containing many thousands of signatures. In many cases, judges have noted and held up in court letters received from the community before sentencing. In four cases, Voices For Pets has been permitted to make a victim's impact statement. So obviously Judge Snowden's thinking is not shared by all his colleagues.

Even if Judge Snowden refuses to accept the petitions in this case, you should not in any way be discouraged in your letter-writing and petitioning efforts. Your letters and petitions have played an important part. They have helped spread the word to many thousands of people about violence
against animals, and raised public consciousness
The August 3rd sentencing date will be the final court appearance in this case, so please come to court if you can. So far, Voices For Pets has collected 12,000 signatures on petitions. Please send in any signed petitions that have not yet been returned so they can be included with the others.

Victory For Sara!!

Martin Berg was sentenced Friday, August 3, 2001, to 3 years and 8 months, which is the maximum sentence he could receive. Although this in no way makes up for what happened to Sara, we can all be thankful that he did receive the maximum.