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By Conor Shine (contact) 
Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 | 3:52 p.m.
Map of Wildlife Habitat
Wildlife Habitat
3555 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas
Justin Teixeira
Eric Cuellar
Two University of California, Berkeley students were arrested Friday morning after allegedly killing an exotic bird at the Flamingo hotel’s Wildlife Habitat, Metro Police said.
Eric Cuellar, 24, and Justin Teixeira, 24, were arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on felony charges of conspiracy and the willful, malicious torture or killing of wildlife. Both were carrying University of California, Berkeley identification cards and identified themselves to police as law students at the school.
The two were caught on video surveillance Friday morning chasing a 14-year-old helmeted guinea fowl into the trees of the wildlife habitat. A witness observed one of the suspects emerge from the trees, carrying the body and severed head of the bird, police said.
Police arrived at the habitat shortly after 9:30 a.m., where witnesses told them two males were throwing the dead bird, discussing the killing and laughing.
The Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat, open 24 hours a day, has about 500 animals, including 10 pink flamingos and a pond of black swans, ducks, helmet guineafowls and a variety of fish.
What a stupid move, these Idiots deserve a beat-down. I hope they get about 10 yrs and barred from Vegas for life. Their parents raised some idiots
Law students? More like cruel idiots.
Wheather it's jay walking, or killing animals or people, Californians just never seem to get the fact that you can't get away with stupid things in Nevada.
Felony charges, good way to start their law careers.
Hope they get to sit in jail and think about this for a while.
Can you get a law license if you have a Felony Conviction? I hope not.
No brain, no headache!
Note to DA Wolfson: Don't reduce the charges to misdemeanors. Felony convictions will prevent them from becoming lawyers.
We already have enough disturbed, slimy, disgusting people in the legal business. Don't need to add two more.
Felony record. Good start to a career in law. I doubt they make it that far.
Good luck getting a job, an apartment...background checks are all the rage. Utterly senseless and stupid individuals.
Comment removed by moderator. Off Topic
Comment removed by moderator. Name Calling
Thank You Las Vegas Metro.Maybe these idiots can recieve the same sentence you gave O.J.Simpson.
<<Can you get a law license if you have a Felony Conviction? I hope not>>
VegasLee - No - no law licenses for these two dopes. In fact, my guess is their time at Berkley's law school is over, too.
As with just about every case that goes thru the courts...they will likely plead it down to misdemeanor charges. Probably 75% of the people in this country with misdemeanors on their record actually committed a felony. It's what the court is willing to prove in time, money and resources that torpedoes most felonies down to misdemeanors. These 2 morons should be banned from ever stepping foot in Las Vegas ever again.
<Can you get a law license if you have a Felony Conviction?>
First, these two guys would have to be convicted of a felony. So far, they have only been charged.
Second, different rules can apply depending on where a lawyer is disbarred. The majority of US states have no procedure for permanently disbarring a person. Depending on the jurisdiction, a lawyer may reapply to the bar immediately, after five to seven years. Lawyers are usually sanctioned by their own clients through civil malpractice proceedings.
Law school applications usually require disclosure of any felony convictions. However, since these two are already enrolled at UC-Berkeley, this is a moot point.
Someone from PETA will see this case. Those people are relentless.
Good luck with those legal careers, boys.
Many exotic species are threatened, many endangered. Humans are overpopulated and face extinction by failure to control their numbers. Serious punishment is in order.
These are not men, they are a couple of spoiled little boys. Hope they get the punishment they deserve. Idiots!
I hope they throw the book at these morons and they get thrown out of school!
People who have a history of animal abuse have a high propensity for abusing kids.
These guys should not have kids.
I shot pigeons in my backyard once. Is that the same thing?
I don't trust anyone who voluntarily has anything to do with Berkeley. I wonder what their motivation was and if they were under the influence?
Det__Munch,
Thank you, I am glad to hear that.
I am betting this gets pleaded down to nothing and they go on at school and end up being lawyers. ;( Just the way the system works today. That is why fools like this keep going things, they know it won't cost them in the long run.
You all do understand that factory farm birds are treated with equal cruelty. Why aren't you also up in arms about that? Because those birds are somehow "not innocent?"
OH yah, That's the stuff Lawyers are made of! This
is one reason this country is so Screwed UP!!
I live in San Francisco. I visit Las Vegas several times a year. The Flamingo is like a second home. I am disgusted and saddened to hear about this tragedy. Regularly I witness or hear about the way some visitors act in Vegas. Sometimes it's unbelievable and always unacceptable. I hope the punishment is severe. A year in jail (no early release). An expensive fine for these alleged felons.
As a Cal alum, My apologies. We are working to throw these bums out of Boalt Law school right now.