How social media influenced Las Cruces animal cruelty case

LAS CRUCES — A viral video distributed on social media brought the internet's attention to a local criminal case, and that exposure ultimately figured into arguments over a Las Cruces man's sentence.

Luis Javier Cobos Jr., 37, pleaded guilty last month to one count of extreme animal cruelty, a felony, thus averting a jury trial. Prosecutors dropped a second count as part of a plea agreement and Cobos was ultimately sentenced to 18 months in prison, a year of parole and a $5,000 fine.

On Feb. 19, 2025, a construction worker working in an east Las Cruces neighborhood reported a man beating a pair of basset hounds with a rock in the back yard of a residence. The worker filmed some of the beating in disturbing footage that spread widely. Cobos allegedly told officers he beat the dogs in anger after they bit him while he was feeding them.

A veterinarian reported that one of the dogs bled from his nose for 10 hours and prosecutors stated the same dog vomited blood from a bruised lung; however, Cobos' attorney said follow-up medical reports did not confirm lung trauma nor show that either dog was, in fact, struck 13 times.

The animals have since been restored to their owner, who lived at the same address.

Extreme cruelty to animals is a fourth-degree felony in New Mexico with 18 months as the maximum sentence. Yet Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Willson requested a sentence of two years, arguing the circumstances justified a higher penalty and further recommending anger treatment and an injunction against owning or caring for animals.

Among the grounds for an aggravated sentence, Willson argued, was that "the viral spread of footage on platforms like Instagram and Facebook" elevated the impact of Cobos' actions to "a shared community trauma."

Cobos' attorney, public defender Roxanna Mason, countered that the widely distributed videos lacked context or medical analysis, contributing to a misleading "social media-driven rush to judgment."

Mason objected to an aggravated sentence on legal and procedural grounds. While Cobos had waived his right to a jury trial, she argued he still had a right for a jury to decide if the state's evidence established grounds for aggravating circumstances and more severe punishment. While conceding that Cobos' treatment of the dogs was "horrible," Mason wrote that it did not rise to the heights of extreme animal cruelty documented in case law.

The debate about social media attention reflects the degree to which "viral" posts have publicized cases before and during litigation, affecting how juries are selected and how attorneys portray the societal impact of crimes: In the 21st century, the mistreatment of a neighborhood pet may become international news after it is shared online.

District Attorney Fernando Macias said the jury selection process, including multiple questionnaires gathering information about what jurors know about a case and from what sources, controls for such influences as it narrows hundreds of people to a panel of 12 jurors.

"There is a very vigorous effort to weed all of those influences out," Macias said in an interview.

As for sentencing, Macias said judges, like juries, are expected to base their decisions "on the facts of the case and not be influenced by outside factors," even in high-publicity cases like Cobos'.

Video from social media posts and livestreams has been increasingly important in criminal cases despite the challenges it presents for establishing authenticity.

Notably, in the murder trials stemming from the 2025 shooting in Young Park, prosecutors have relied heavily on bystanders' mobile phone footage to construct the timeline of events and establish the movements of defendants and others in a fast-moving incident involving multiple shooters.

While it can be useful at trial, Mason said such imagery can also overshadow other evidence.

"The level of social media attention we saw in this case is uncommon but was still highly influential on the case," she wrote to the Journal. "It led to over 150 letters to the judge, a petition, and a packed courtroom at sentencing. Despite video and medical evidence showing only minor injuries to one dog, Mr. Cobos received the maximum sentence allowed by law."

On March 6, state District Judge Conrad Perea stuck with the maximum statutory sentence and ordered Cobos to undergo anger management counseling and complete an animal cruelty education program.

Algernon D'Ammassa is the Journal's southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.