What’s Worse: Killing Rabbit or Beating Girlfriend? : Court: Alleged assault on woman could cost man $1,000 fine, but strangling her bunny could bring a penalty of $20,000.

A local man is facing a maximum $1,000 fine for allegedly beating his girlfriend.

What could really run into big money is the second charge against him. He also allegedly strangled his girlfriend’s pet rabbit. The fine for that maxes out at $20,000.

“This is consistent with a [country] that has six times as many animal shelters as domestic violence shelters,” said state Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) when told of the charges.

Raphael Diaz Rodriguez, 24, pleaded not guilty in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Monday to both charges. He is accused of knocking his 29-year-old girlfriend of six months into a staircase with an open-handed blow to the face, and then choking her. About two weeks later during an argument, prosecutors say, he removed her pet rabbit from its cage and strangled it before fleeing.

The charges--battery in a dating relationship and cruelty to animals--each carry a sentence of up to one year in jail. The discrepancy lies in the maximum fines.

“Crimes against women have never been taken as seriously as other types of crime,” said Kuehl, cofounder of California Women’s Law Center, a legal advocacy group.

But Deputy City Atty. Jeffrey Harkavy said there is a practical explanation for the differences in the fines. The relatively low maximum for domestic battery encourages judges, he said, to levy significant jail terms.

“We don’t want [violators] to just be able to write a check and blow it off,” Harkavy said.

Also, he added, fining the batterer may punish the victim as well if the parties are married or live together.

Conversely, he said, judges hesitate to sentence violators of animal cruelty laws to jail time. The ability to levy a steep fine allows them to still make the punishment meaningful.

But Kuehl said the disparity in the fines could easily be misinterpreted.

“There’s a difference between the public policy set forth in a law and the way in which prosecutors may decide the seriousness of crimes themselves,” she said. As now written, “the law is more serious when it comes to animals.”

Law enforcement agencies, the California criminal justice system and the Legislature have all taken steps in recent years to crack down on violence against women, Kuehl said.

“However,” she added: “As we can see from this case . . . we still have a long way to go.”