Heckmann in court: accused of animal cruelty

The man accused of torturing and killing a kitten was in courtMonday morning.

Investigators say Robert Heckmann videotaped himself torturing a kitten named Loki and sent text messages about it.

Heckmann is charged with cruelty to animals.

In the court room Heckmann’s lawyer said he will be filing a motion to limit pre-trial publicity.

We asked several lawyers about this. They told us if the motion passed it could mean information about the case will not be released to the media. But one lawyer told us this motion can sometimes create even more publicity, especially in such a controversial case.

There will be a pretrial conference this week to discuss the motion.

Heckmann will be in court again on Monday the 10th.

If convicted Heckmann could face up to 18 months in prison.