Pastor Rick Bartlett of Bastrop, TX, was charged with animal cruelty in January of last year. In a few hours, he’ll be getting his day in court.
The trial of a Bastrop pastor who has been charged with animal cruelty in the abuse and death of a cat last year is set to begin at 9 a.m. Monday in the Bastrop County Court of Law.
On January 15, 2012, Bartlett trapped Moody, his neighbors’ pet, on his property. He put Moody in a cage in the back of his pickup truck. The reverend later admitted that he left the feline trapped in the cage for two days without giving it food or water.
An animal control officer, contacted by Bartlett, noticed Moody’s collar and name tag; she told the pastor to return the cat its owners.
According to Bastrop Police Detective Sarah Moore, Bartlett told the officer “he would just go home and release the cat in the neighborhood.” Later that evening [the animal control officer] was told about a dead cat that was found underneath the Hwy 150 bridge. It was Moody [photo, in better times]. He had fallen some 50 feet to his death.
When investigators caught up with Bartlett, he stated that Moody had escaped from the cage and he didn’t know what had happened to him.
Bartlett later confessed that he was “extremely stressed and angry because of personal issues” and he “untied the bungee chord the cage was attached to and opened the door to the cage and drove off with the intention of the cat jumping out of the vehicle while he was driving off.”
Little about that explanation makes sense. Let’s see if the court can tease some truth out of him.
Bartlett is the former pastor for the Bastrop Christian Church. He was let go from the church after his arrest, only to set up a new house of worship in his own home — the Riverside Christian Church.
I just read in a news article that James Rhodes is the prosecuting attorney in this criminial case # 50211 of “The State of Texas vs. Rick Bartlett.” Attorney James Rhodes, kindly read what I have to say to you: @ James Rhodes, prosecuting attorney representing the family of Moody, do you realize that Chris Dillon, the defense attorney, and Judge Terry Flenniken are kicking you and your client’s rear ends? Please pull a rabbit out of your hat and quit sitting on your hands and DO something!! My dead grandmother could prosecute better than you are doing right now. For Rick and Tina Bartlett to be charged with only “Animal Abandonment” is absolutely a joke and insane. Rick Bartlett entrapped, starved, tortured, mutilated Moody’s four paw pads, mangled Moody’s penis and for three days kept Moody encaged in the back of his pick-up truck when it was 20 degrees outside, then he threw Moody over a fifty-foot bridge to the cat’s ultimate death. Rick Bartlett has also changed his story of what he did with Moody at least two or three different times making the pastor a compulsive liar. Not to mention Reverend Rick is morbidly obese and will never appear on the cover of a GQ Magazine. Attorney James Rhodes, why aren’t you calling in Doctor Greg Maynard, DVM from the Crossroads Animal Hospital to testify and present autopsy reports of Moody before the jury? I watched part of the court case and I could tell “the deal is sealed.” Rick Bartlett, the judge and the justice system must have rigged this deal all along and Rick Bartlett is going to walk out of that courtroom with his “White Lilly A$$” and not pay a dime, nor spend one day in the slammer. James Rhodes, please do something to bring “Justice to Moody!!” You are blowing this, and then some. I know you are young and maybe this is one of your first few court cases but, you are up against the “good ol’ boys” club. Also, who chose the six members of this jury? Five of them are men, and one of them is a woman. Generally men aren’t too fond of cats and many men are avid hunters. Why didn’t they chose six elderly women? Even the owners of Moody who have a five-year old daughter knew that Pastor Rick Bartlett is a cat murderer and killed her beloved cat. And yet, the judge and the defense attorney believe in their educated minds that Rick Bartlett did nothing worse than to “abandon” Moody. This case is a slam-dunk victory for Rick Bartlett. The reverend might as well open up a bottle of champagne tonight and celebrate because, unless you have some good witnesses to present at the trial on Thursday, May 16, 2013, this is a done deal and Rick Bartlett will be pronounced “Innocent.” It’s the O.J. Simpson trial all over again and the six jurors will be enjoying pot luck socials every Friday night at Rick Bartlett’s home for an entire year after the verdict on this trial is announced. Congratulations! You just lost your case, James Rhodes, and you followed Pastor Rick Bartlett & Judge Terry Flenniken’s instructions to “Take A Dive” just like they do in most rigged boxing matches.
In answer to your 2 thoughts. If you waited till the trial was over to make your comments you would see who got their butts kicked. James Rhodes did win this case. Rick Bartlett was found guilty. I can’t believe you compared this case with the O. J. Simpson case. Come on!
RIP-Moody. You did not deserve this. Bartlett must really treasure his yard.