Justice for Flash contingent piles in for bail hearing

PALMER — It’s not often in Palmer — or most places for that matter — that more than 20 people show up to a courtroom to witness a bail hearing.

But that was the case Friday morning at the Alaska Court System, where Courtroom 8 was packed to capacity for the bail hearing of 36-year-old Palmer resident Gina Jones, who along with Jason McDonell, 35, of Wasilla, is charged with first-degree theft, two counts of second-degree theft, third-degree misconduct involving weapons and animal cruelty.

Natuarlly, it was the last of those charges that drew the crowd, in which many came equipped with T-shirts reading “Justice for Flash” and bumper stickers attesting to the same, cross-marketed into social media with a hashtag at the fore.

Authorities allege that on July 10 the pair stole a 1999 Dodge van, owned by Anchorage man Mark Thomsen, and left Thomsen’s dog Flash, a 12-year-old golden retriever, in the car where the animal is believed to have succumbed to heat exhaustion before authorities found the van three days later on Hideaway Circle off Hyer Road.

The public defender representing Jones argued against the $10,000 bond requested by prosecutors and asked that Jones be remanded to house arrest with an electronic bracelet attached to monitor her whereabouts.

Before ruling on Jones’ bail, judge Kari C. Kristiansen acknowledged the large turnout in her courtroom and emphasized that it had no bearing on how she was about to decide.

“(My ruling) can not at all be impacted by the number of people there are,” the judge said. “Community condemnation may not be a factor,” in a bail hearing, though, she noted, such public outrage may be considered for sentencing.

Kristiansen said, the gallery not withstanding, she was not comfortable with Jones monitored under electronic monitoring due to her “history of failing to appear” for court proceedings.

She denied the defense’s request for modified bail and set it at $10,000 corporate bond with a court-appointed third-party to oversee its success.

Kristiansen set Jones’ next hearing date for Aug. 12 at 9 a.m., and outside the courtroom, the Justice for Flash contingent was preparing to rendezvous again.

“I just came out to show my support for Flash,” said John Jansen, of Wasilla. “I love animals and seeing something happen to him kind of broke my heart.”

Jansen said he was somewhat surprised by the turnout, but imagines it will be even greater on Aug 12.

“Absolutely I’ll be here for the trial as well — or the sentencing,” Jansen said. “When somebody mentions animal cruelty, it’s hard to explain, but a lot of people have love for animals.”

Though the allegations might seem to indicate the death of Flash was more a result of negligence than outright abuse, Alisha Mayer believes Flash’s case can shine a light on a problem that she says is an epidemic in Alaska.

“This isn’t a dog beating or throwing poisoned meat over the fence knowing they’ll eat it… (but) I wanted to be here as a representative for Flash and animal cruelty, in general,” Mayer said. “There’s not enough being done. Convictions that are coming out are pretty lame. There was a dog named Paco that was beat to death, and (the perpetrator) didn’t get hardly anything. There’s all the cruelty in Anchorage of dogs disappearing and being poisoned and beaten to death — they haven’t caught most of them. I just want to see something done to send a message that it matters to people and if they do it, there’s going to be consequences.”

Mayer said supporters of Flash plan to hold a rally in downtown Palmer on Aug. 11.

“I just think (animal cruelty) is getting worse, since there aren’t any consequences,” Mayer said.