The manager of a Waimanalo puppy mill that city officials closed two years ago was granted a second continuance Thursday to allow his second court-appointed attorney to prepare for his trial.
David Lee Becker, 37, was granted a continuance until Aug. 9 because Deputy Public Defender Steven Nichols said he only received the case on Monday.
Nichols told District Judge Paula Devens that there are at least 2,000 pages of evidence for him to review.
Becker has not entered a plea.
After the hearing, Nichols said he had been on vacation when the case was referred to his office.
Becker, dressed in a brown T-shirt and gray shorts, did not speak during the proceedings.
On June 21, Deputy Public Defender Jin Tae Kim requested a continuance until July 12, saying he needed time "to examine all the documents" to determine Becker’s defense.
Becker is charged with 153 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. If convicted, he could be fined as much as $306,000 and be sentenced to up to a year in jail.
Becker has been held on $200,000 bail since he was extradited to Honolulu on June 15 from Las Vegas.
His bail was doubled to $200,000 from $100,000 on June 18 after the city prosecutor’s office said he was a possible flight risk.
Becker’s charges are similar to those against Bradley International, whose Waimanalo dog-breeding operation he managed in 2010.
He was charged May 26, 2011, but left the state before he was served with the criminal complaints. Las Vegas police arrested him June 8 and extradited him to Hawaii. The Hawaiian Humane Society traced Becker to Las Vegas and gave the information to the city prosecutor’s office, which obtained a special gubernatorial warrant for his arrest.
On Feb. 28, 2010, the Hawaiian Humane Society and police seized 153 dogs after authorities received a complaint about a barking dog and another involving a woman who was allegedly trespassing with five dogs.
Bradley International was sentenced in February 2011 in Kaneohe District Court after its representatives pleaded no contest in December 2010 to 153 counts of animal cruelty.
The company was ordered to pay $370,701 in restitution to the Humane Society for recovery of the dogs; a $2,000 fine for each count of animal cruelty, totaling $306,000; and $8,415 in court fees. But because the company has gone out of business, none of the fines or restitution will be paid.
