| The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a former Roane County man's request for a stay.
Eric Arnold, formerly of Spencer, has been denied a request to stay his two-month jail sentence for animal cruelty.
Arnold and his wife Kathy have faced animal cruelty charges in Roane County and Virginia, where they later moved.
Eric Arnold was found guilty of 12 misdemeanor counts of animal abuse in January 2002 and was sentenced to two months in jail and a $1,200 fine. He has been appealing the case ever since.
He contends that his appointed attorney failed to inform him that the state Supreme Court rejected his appeal in January.
He was arrested in September in Staunton, Virginia, where he had moved with the Roane Circuit Court's permission.
He is being incarcerated in a Virginia jail and has refused to waive extradition to West Virginia to remain close to his wife, whom he says is disabled.
The U.S. Supreme Court is still considering whether to take Arnold's appeal based on the alleged incompetence of his lawyer.
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