State trials of Vick, co-defendants likely to be delayed

Trials set for next week for two of Michael Vick’s co-defendants on state dogfighting charges will be continued, and Vick’s case could be pushed back, too, the prosecutor in the case said today.

Surry County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerald Poindexter cited logistics as the cause for the delay. The two men scheduled for trial on Wednesday, Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace, are serving federal sentences in Oklahoma and New Jersey, respectively. Poindexter said he had agreements with attorneys for both men to ask that the cases be continued.

Vick, the suspended NFL quarterback from Newport News, is scheduled for his state trial on April 2. He is serving a 23-month prison term in Leavenworth, Kan., for his federal conviction. Poindexter, who brought state charges in September against the men after they pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, said Vick’s Surry County trial might also be continued.

Vick, Phillips, Peace and Tony Taylor are charged in Surry County with felony counts of dogfighting and animal cruelty. Each is punishable by up to five years in prison. Taylor is set for trial on May 7.

The four men pleaded guilty last summer in U.S. District Court in Richmond to a federal conspiracy involving an interstate dogfighting enterprise. They admitted to running “Bad Newz Kennels,” a large pit bull fighting operation based on property that Vick owned in Surry County, from 2001 to 2007. Vick admitted to financing the operation, which included the gambling of thousands of dollars on matches and the killing of dogs that didn't perform well.

Authorities uncovered the operation in April 2007 while serving a search warrant for drugs in an investigation concerning Vick’s cousin.

Forty-seven pit bulls taken from the property have been placed with animal rescue organizations around the country. Many may eventually be adopted.