- March 9, 2025
Angel Roman will be treated rather than incarcerated for charges of felony cruelty to animals, which were brought against him after he strangled one kitten and burned and bit the lips of another one.
Roman was sentenced to a year of community control and four years of probation at a Monday hearing.
“The offense that was allegedly committed by Mr. Roman was a particularly bad one,” said Circuit Judge J. David Walsh before sentencing. “It was very bad. These types of offenses are deemed by society to be so bad that person who commit them likely have to go to prison for a long time.”
Roman has a long history of mental health issues. He has been detained on Baker Act grounds at least three times. He was diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder, and several healthcare professionals suspect that he suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, according to testimony at Roman’s sentencing hearing. Roman is considered developmentally delayed.
Assistant Public Defender Regina Nunnally, who represented Roman, said he was living in an unstructured environment last May, when deputies received a call about the abused kittens. He wasn’t taking his medication, and he was upset because his girlfriend was supposed to come to a picnic with him. At the last minute, that changed.
“If someone hurts him or abandons him, feelings of rejection cause outbursts of anger, and he doesn’t know how to deal with that in a verbal way,” Nunnally said. “It becomes acting out behavior.”
The abuse to the kittens had extended over several weeks, according to an incident report.
Nunnally said Roman needs to be in a contained environment with access to mental health support.
“I don’t believe that what he would receive at the Department of Corrections would do him or the state any good,” she said, asking that Roman instead be sent to a group home.
Prosecutors disagreed. Disputes with girlfriends and taking medication regularly are every day responsibilities that Roman can’t handle, said Rich Price, assistant state attorney. Roman is a danger to himself and citizens, he said.
“We cannot simply stand by and wait to Baker Act somebody who has chosen not to take his medications and cannot cope with everyday situations,” Price said after criticizing Nunnally’s recommended group home for being unsecured. “It is unfortunate, but the state has one secure environment for Mr. Roman, and that is the Department of Corrections.”
Felony cruelty to animals carries a maximum sentence of five years. Price asked that Roman be sentenced to four years, a prison length agreed upon when Roman pled no contest to his charges.
“What happens after four years?” Walsh asked.
“That’s the problem, your honor,” Price said. “We just have to go on faith that he’s going to continue to take his medication and learn to cope with every day society.”
That, Walsh said, is the unanswerable question. Ultimately, he decided to forgo the prison sentence, saying Roman did not have the capacity to appreciate the criminal capacity of his conduct. Roman has served 266 days in jail since his arrest last May.
“Our society has also deemed that certain persons who might commit certain offenses aren’t necessarily the kind of persons that need to go to prison,” Walsh said. “The days when we put persons in prison for such things are long gone.”
Walsh ordered that Roman reside in a structured, supervised group home meant to help people with mental disabilities. Such a home must restrict Roman’s freedom to come and go and must make sure he takes his medications.
Roman returned to the Flagler County Inmate Facility Monday after his hearing, where he will remain until a suitable group home is found for him.
“This isn’t punishment,” Walsh said. “It’s protection for you.”
