Over-prosecution is a tool prosecutors often use to get criminal defendants to plead guilty rather than risk a more severesentence if they go to trial.
"A judge will have the flexibility to award asentence much more severe than previously was the case, which I think the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland would widely welcome, " he said.
Most criminal convictions in America come from plea bargains, in which defendants exchange their right to a trial for less severe prosecution or a shorter jail sentence.
Ortiz, confronted with a possible life sentence and reportedly suffering from asevere mental illness, admitted his guilt again a year later as part of a plea deal that sent him to prison for up to 25 years.
Sentencing, the magistrate said a custodial sentence was the only suitable punishment because the greyhound had suffered "severe and extensive injuries".