State v. Josephs

**22This case requires us to examine the meaning of language used in **23General Statutes § 53-247 a),1 a provision that criminalizes a broad range of acts of cruelty to animals. The defendant, Delano Josephs, appeals2 from the judgment of conviction of a single violation of § 53-247 (a), stemming from his shooting of his neighbor's cat with a BB gun.3 The defendant claims that (1) the trial court improperly concluded that the clause of § 53-247 (a) applicable to his conviction, which bars a person from "unjustifiably injur[ing]" an animal, requires only a general intent to engage in the…