Two teenagers, who were not named because they are minors, appear to be the first people charged under the new law. They were charged in juvenile court in 2008 for beating a dog named Ranger with a baseball bat during a burglary of a Riverton home while the family was away, according to Deseret News archives.

The family returned to find their dog lying in a pool of blood. Ranger was severely injured but recovered.

As for Spidle, the witness-tampering charges filed against him this month by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office are both third-degree felonies. Prosecutors claim Spidle called his former girlfriend from jail and was recorded asking the woman not to show up at court and telling her "if she does show up, the state can send the defendant away for five years."

"He further stated that if she would not show, the state would have nothing," court documents said.

Another recorded phone call to his mother reveals Spidle urging her to avoid state process servers who might come to her house to give her legal papers regarding his case, even saying she should not answer the door or take the garbage out.

"He stated to (his mother) that none of this holds if nobody shows," according to court documents.

Spidle appeared before Barrett on Monday, and the judge agreed to let a private attorney, Rhome Zabriskie, handle the animal-cruelty case. Meanwhile, a public defender, Michael Peterson, represents Spidle in the aggravated-assault and witness-tampering cases.

The judge set July 13 for a disposition hearing.

Spidle is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $100,000 bail.

E-MAIL: lindat@desnews.com