Court rules on 'crush video' woman

Published Nov 9, 1999

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Pomona, California - A woman involved in making "crush videos" - in which small animals are stepped on and killed - pleaded no contest on Monday to three felony charges of animal cruelty.

A Pomona judge suspended a three-year prison term but ordered Diane Aileen Chaffin, 35, to spend a year in jail or the equivalent in community service.

Chaffin and Gary Lynn Thomason, 48, were charged last August after authorities confiscated videos showing Chaffin stomping mice to death while wearing a variety of footgear.

In The Tails of Charlies Ankles, which was played at her preliminary hearing, Chaffin is heard ordering blind baby mice and rodents whose tails were taped to the floor to beg for their lives while she crushes them.

The video was allegedly made by Thomason in a home in this community east of Los Angeles.

Deputy District Attorney Manuel Garcia said investigators had seized another "crush video" from Thomason's home in which a woman squashes live shellfish with her feet. - Sapa-AFP

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