Justice for Dexter

By: William D. Slicker, Esq.

In 2017, a neighbor of Travis Archer heard a labrador retriever puppy named Ponce being beaten and called the police.^[i] The police found the dog dead in Archer’s backyard. Ponce had suffered multiple lacerations, seven puncture wounds, a fractured jaw, crushed teeth, a broken rib, and a punctured lung.^[ii]

In response, Debbie Darino, a Daytona Beach paralegal, started the Justice for Ponce group.^[iii] Florida Representative Jason Brodeur of Sanford and Florida Representative Greg Steube of Sarasota introduced legislation that became known as Ponce’s Law.^[iv] Pursuant to Ponce’s Law, anyone convicted of animal cruelty has been bumped from 16 sentence points to 28 sentence points.^[v] Someone who scores 44 points goes to prison under the sentencing guidelines.^[vi]

Now Debbie Darino is back at it with a Justice for Dexter group.

On 10 May 2024, Domingo Rodriguez adopted a four-year-old bulldog mix named Dexter. Four days later, sheriff deputies found the dead dog in a plastic bag in the mangroves of Fort DeSoto State Park.^[vii] The dog had been decapitated and his body cut up.^[viii] Video surveillance showed Rodrigues at Fort DeSoto Park with a cooler one day after Dexter had been adopted. Dexter’s microchip led the deputies to Rodriguez.^[ix]

With Darino’s urging, Florida senator Tom Leek and Florida Representative Linda Chaney have introduced bills known as Dexter’s Law that would raise horrific treatment of animals to 35 points at a minimum.^[x]

As Rep. Chaney said, “We have to look at this as cruel and abhorrent behavior that we can’t have in our communities.”^[xi]

^[i] Fernandez, Frank, In Ponce dog beating death case, Travis Archer sentenced to year in jail, The Daytona Beach News-Journal (Nov. 27, 2019) https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/crime/2019/11/27/in-ponce-dog-beating-death-case-travis-archer-sentenced-to-year-in-jail/2195463007/

^[ii] Fernandez, ibid.

^[iii] Fernandez, Frank, Ponce’s Law, named for puppy that was beaten to death awaits governor’s signature, The Daytona Beach News-Journal (Mar. 10, 2018) https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/crime/2018/03/10/ponces-law-named-for-puppy-that-was-beaten-to-death-awaits-governors-signature/13041791007/#:~:text=The%20bill%20would%20allow%20a,offender%20would%20go%20to%20prison.

^[iv] Fernandez, ibid.

^[v] §828.02, Fla. Stat.

^[vi] Fernandez, In Ponce dog beating death case, Travis Archer sentenced to year in jail, supra.

^[vii] Tracy, Kailey, Man decapitates newly adopted dog, dumps body in Fort DeSoto Park: PCSO, Fox 13 News (May 16, 2024) https://www.fox13news.com/news/man-decapitates-newly-adopted-dog-dumps-body-in-fort-desoto-park-pcso.

^[viii] Kveglis, Jennifer, Fight for ‘Dexter’s Law’ heads to Tallahassee, Fox 13 News (Feb. 10, 2025) https://www.fox13news.com/news/fight-dexters-law-heads-tallahassee

^[ix] Kveglis, Jennifer, ibid.

^[x] Senate Bill 502

House Bill 255

^[xi] Kveglis, supra