Judge denies motion to quash torture indictment in case alleging repeated strikes to dog

The court denied a defense motion to quash an indictment that charges Havana Dejanae Miller with torturing a dog, saying the indictment’s description of the alleged conduct provided sufficient notice and reserving factual disputes for a jury and later hearings.

Defense attorney Jody Sawyers argued the statutory language in chapter 42, section 42.092—particularly the provision criminalizing “torture” as “unjustifiable pain and suffering”—is overbroad and vague and could allow convictions where no bodily injury occurred. “This is so broad as to not give an ordinary citizen notice of what they’re being charged of,” Sawyers told the court. The defense also argued some parts of the statute permit conduct with the owner’s “effective consent” and that longstanding, socially accepted practices involving animals (for example, in racing or husbandry) show the statute lacks adequate limiting principles.

Assistant District Attorney Jason Gearingham told the court the indictment supplies the necessary particulars by linking…