Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Laura Kiessling | | Defense(s): | Andrew White | | Judge(s): | Paul A. Hackner, Robert C. Wilcox |
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #12295 Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Dog-fighting - 5 dogs seized
Severna Park, MD (US)Incident Date: Friday, Sep 7, 2007
County: Anne Arundel
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Kevin Jay Green
» Kathleen Marie Bell - Dismissed
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
Last week, disturbed by what seemed to be happening on his neighbor's property, a Severna Park resident called law enforcement authorities. Anne Arundel County police searched the property and discovered what they said yesterday were facilities used in illegal dogfighting.
According to charging documents, investigators found what appeared to be training equipment: endurance-building treadmills with paw prints on the tracks and thick ropes attached to springs used to strengthen dogs' jaw muscles.
Investigators seized four pit bulls and a puppy, police said. Several of the dogs appeared to have wounds from past fights, they said. They also seized crack cocaine, a loaded handgun, drug paraphernalia and $601 in cash.
In Anne Arundel, police arrested Kevin Jay Green, 44, and Kathleen Marie Bell, 37, residents of the home on Glenns Road that was raided Friday. The two were charged with maintaining a dogfighting operation, cruelty to animals, arranging or conducting dogfights, possession of cocaine, possession of paraphernalia and possession of a handgun during drug trafficking.
Yesterday, in Anne Arundel District Court, Green and Bell were ordered held on $750,000 bail. If released, each is ordered not to have any contact with dogs.
At Green's bail hearing, family and friends said he could not have been involved in dogfighting. "He's scared to death of dogs," said a woman who declined to give her name.
Green, a mechanic, has lived at the Severna Park home for 14 years and has no criminal convictions, said his attorney, Joseph Bruce. In arguing for lower bail, Bruce said the gun had been left at Green's house accidentally by a friend who was in the courtroom. Bruce pointed to another friend in the courtroom, a woman, and said one of the pit bulls belonged to her, not Green.
Appearing at the hearing by closed-circuit TV, Green wore an expression of surprise throughout the proceeding and held a disfigured hand near his face in view of the camera. Bruce, saying his client is disabled and not a flight risk, told the judge that Green was shot in the hand during a break-in at his home in June.
"He's innocent of all he's been accused of," the attorney later said outside the court.
In charging documents, however, investigators detailed a two-day surveillance operation at the home, where they saw men building fence sections that they allege were for a fighting pit, and pit bulls being walked into the nearby woods. At least one appeared dead when it was carried back into the house, the documents say. Investigators also noted heavy traffic through the home, which they thought was a sign of drug trafficking.
The neighbor lodged his complaint Wednesday. The surveillance began quickly, and police had a warrant by Friday. They descended on the house with help from special operation and animal control units.
Entering through a side door, they arrested Bell in the kitchen. According to the charging documents, officers found Green near a toilet with cash and baggies of crack cocaine. Inside the toilet trap were more money and drugs, and a loaded 9mm handgun was in the hallway closet, the documents say.
Outside, two "extremely aggressive" pit bulls were kept in a pen of bare dirt with one doghouse and no shade, water or food. Three more pit bulls were found in separate cages behind the house.
"This kind of case in Anne Arundel is very rare," said Cpl. Mark Shawkey, a police spokesman. "It's the first case like this I can recall in several years."
The adult dogs, who have been trained and used in fights, will probably be put down, Shawkey said. The puppy will be evaluated by animal control officers to see whether it is adoptable.
Case UpdatesA man charged last year with operating a dog-fighting ring behind his Severna Park home was convicted yesterday of maintaining a premises for dog fighting.
Kevin Jay Green, 45, also was convicted of dealing cocaine.
But Green, of 85 Glenns Road, will not go to jail unless he violates the terms of his probation.
Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner sentenced Green to three years in prison, but suspended all but 69 days he already had served behind bars as part of a plea agreement with the state. He ordered Green to stay off drugs and not to own any "four-legged" pets for the next two years.
It's been a bad year for Green. He was arrested Sept. 7, 2007 at his home trying to flush crack cocaine and cash down the toilet as police raided the house on a dog-fighting tip. That incident was just nine weeks after he was shot June 30, 2007, during a brazen home invasion. And just seven weeks after his arrest on the drug and dog-fighting charges, his 23-year-old son, Krey Green, was shot and killed Oct. 27 in Crownsville during an apparent drug deal gone bad. Green was in jail at the time.
"Mr. Green has gone through a lot," said Assistant State's Attorney Lawrence Caporale, explaining why he offered the plea agreement. He noted how Green had no previous criminal record and that police never saw him with the dogs.
"I believe justice was served here," he said.
Trouble at the Severna Park home started in June.
Police said two armed men broke into Green's home screaming for money, pistol whipping one of his friends and shooting him three times - twice in the chest and once in the right hand. Green had to jump out a second-floor window and hide in the woods behind his house to escape.
"I was shot. My home was invaded. Who would expect that to happen in Severna Park?" Green said in April.
He has undergone multiple surgeries over the past 14 months and still is unable to make a fist with his right hand.
Paul Anthony Walsh, 40, of Severna Park, and Ambrose Eugene Rawls Jr., 29, of Baltimore, were arrested in connection with the home invasion.
Walsh pleaded guilty Sept. 5 to attempted murder, attempted armed robbery and a handgun charge as part of a plea agreement with the state. He will be sentenced Nov. 14 to serve 17 1/2 years in prison.
Rawls entered an Alford plea April 15 to first-degree assault, attempted robbery and use of a handgun during the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain his innocence while admitting that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him. It carries all the consequences of a guilty plea.
About two months after the home invasion, police were back at Green's house. Mr. Caporale said a concerned neighbor called police Sept. 5 about dogfighting at the house. Police watched the property for two days and eventually obtained a search warrant.
While officers witnessed some men building dog-fighting pens and working with the dogs, they did not see Green with the animals.
Officers raided the property at about 1:30 p.m. Sept. 7, 2007, and seized four full-grown pit bulls and a puppy - many showing injuries and scars from fighting. Police also found a dog-fighting pit and training equipment for fighting animals.
Mr. Caporale said the officers caught Green in the bathroom trying to flush baggies of crack and powder cocaine and wads of cash. Police recovered 23.2 grams of cocaine and $601 in cash.
Green told The Capital in April the detectives were lying - "There were no drugs in my home" - but yesterday his story changed.
"I apologize," he said, after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. "I ask God to forgive me."
Green maintained he was not involved with the dog fighting though. He entered an Alford plea to the charges he maintained a premises for dog fighting.
Andrew White, Green's defense attorney, explained his client was letting some people keep dogs on his property.
"His intent was never to let people fight dogs there," he said.
Kathleen Marie Bell, 38, Green's house mate, pleaded guilty in April to possession of cocaine as part of a plea agreement. A judge sentenced her to one year in jail, but suspended all but the 220 days she already had served behind bars.
All dog-fighting and animal-cruelty charges against Bell were dropped.
Green was in jail when his son was shot and killed in Crownsville last fall.
Constellation Energy employees found the body Oct. 30 in a burned-out car behind South Shore Baptist Church in Crownsville, county police said.
Police quickly linked Ross Womick, 16, Crownsville to the homicide. He later confessed and told detectives Wayne Lewis Milburn Sr., 43, of Crownsville was the shooter.
According to court documents, Mr. Womick said he and Milburn met Krey Green Oct. 27 in Crownsville to buy drugs. He said before they ever got to the meeting spot, though, they decided to shoot Krey Green and take his drugs and money.
Mr. Womick told police Milburn shot Krey Green with a .22-caliber handgun. Afterward, Milburn shoved the body into the front passenger seat and drove the car to a wooded area about 200 feet behind the church at 725 Herald Harbor Road.
There, they doused the car in gasoline and set it on fire before the two returned to Milburn's house to smoke crack, court documents said.
Both Mr. Womick and Milburn were charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death.
Mr. Womick is scheduled to have a motions hearing Nov. 12. Milburn is scheduled for a bail review hearing tomorrow. | Source: Hometown Annapolis - Sept 30, 2008
Update posted on Oct 6, 2008 - 12:11AM |
Police called it one of the county's worst animal cruelty cases of all time.
But veteran District Court Judge Robert C. Wilcox said the investigation of the alleged Severna Park dogfighting ring is one of the worst examples of police work he's seen.
"I'm underwhelmed with the preparation of this case. I've got to tell you," Judge Wilcox said last week at a preliminary hearing.
The judge was asked to determine if the state had enough probable cause to support the various charges brought against 44-year-old Kevin Jay Green.
"If this was a trial and I was the judge, the state would be in trouble."
And yesterday, defense attorney Andrew White used Judge Wilcox's comments to argue unsuccessfully for Circuit Court Judge William C. Mulford II to reduce his client's bond. Mr. Green and his housemate, 37-year-old Kathleen Marie Bell, are being held at the Jennifer Road Detention Center on $750,000 bonds.
Mr. White said that bond is excessive since the state's case is about drugs at this point. He said detectives only charged Mr. Green with the dogfighting because of the recent "Michael Vick fervor" and that his client was only guilty of being at the Glenns Road home when police served a search warrant.
Judge Wilcox dropped one handgun charge against Mr. Green, saying there was no evidence to support he actually was connected to the gun or using it to deal drugs.
He let stand the remaining charges of maintaining a dogfighting operation, conducting dogfights, cruelty to animals, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, and several other related crimes.
"It's circumstantial at best," Judge Wilcox said of the dogfighting charges. "Circumstantial cases are tough, but they don't disqualify the bringing of the charges."
Prosecutors declined to comment on the cases against Mr. Green and Ms. Bell.
Police, however, said they did a good job investigating what was happening on Glenns Road.
"We respect Judge Wilcox opinions, yet we still stand behind our investigation," said Sgt. Sara Schriver, a county police spokesman. "At this time, we cannot comment on the investigative facets of this case."
Deputy State's Attorney Laura Kiessling told Judge Mulford yesterday that police caught Mr. Green in the bathroom Sept. 7 trying to flush crack cocaine and money down the toilet. As for claims Mr. Green was not party to the dogfighting, Ms. Kiessling noted the dogs were seized at his home.
"This is the defendant's address. This is where the defendant was living," she said.
According to court records, a concerned neighbor tipped police to the alleged dogfighting operation Sept. 5. He told an officer he heard men yelling "kill him!" and "break his leg!" behind the property and saw two pit bulls attacking a third.
Police watched the property for two days and eventually got a search warrant. Officers raided the property at about 1:30 p.m. Sept. 7 and seized four full-grown pit bulls and a puppy - many showing injuries and scars from fighting.
Police also found suspected crack cocaine worth $3,500, $600 in cash, a loaded 9mm Ruger handgun and drug paraphernalia, including a digital scale. There was a dogfighting pit and training equipment for fighting animals on the property, court records said.
Mr. White said police didn't really investigate Mr. Green's connection to the house and can't prove there were any organized dogfights held at the property. He said officers never witnessed a fight.
"If you have multiple dogs and they fight, that is not a crime," Mr. White said according to a recording of the preliminary hearing.
Cpl. Michael Harper told Judge Wilcox last week he saw eight black men and one white man walking around house during their stakeout - but never saw Mr. Green.
"I can't testify I saw Mr. Green," Cpl. Harper said according to the recording. He explained Mr. Green was charged with the dogfighting because of his proximity to the apparent fights.
Cpl. Harper testified Mr. Green got mail at 85 Glenn Roads and that he had heard from someone Mr. Green was a renter. The police officer didn't know exactly who said that or when.
Judge Wilcox said police need to do more to link Mr. Green to the house.
"Is he a visitor? Did he just go in the bathroom to use the facilities and leave," he said.
Sgt. Schriver said detectives are waiting for lab results on the gun. She said detectives tried to get fingerprints off the fences and dog collars, but couldn't.
State property records only cloud the issue further. According to online records, 85 Glenns Road is a vacant lot. The property owner, Dorothy Cager, said she doesn't know who Mr. Green is.
The September raid wasn't the first time police had gone to the Glenns Road home.
Two months before police raided the home, county detectives investigated a shooting at the same address.
A group of men ransacked the house, pistol-whipped one woman, and shot Mr. Green. While seriously wounded, Mr. Green managed to crawl out a back bedroom window and stumble into the woods, police said.
Police arrested Paul Anthony Walsh, 39, of 359 Prestonfield Lane, Severna Park, and Ambrose Eugene Rawls Jr., 28, of 2912 Riggs Ave. in West Baltimore in connection with the shooting. They are charged with attempted murder, assault, attempted armed robbery and various handgun violations and are being held without bond at the Jennifer Road Detention Center.
Mr. White used the wounds Mr. Green received in June as reason his client should be placed on house arrest. He complained the jail isn't treating his client.
"He's not getting any," Mr. White said.
Judge Mulford said he might reconsider at a later date, but decided to keep Mr. Green in jail for now.
Robin Harting, superintendent of the county detention facilities, said she can't comment on an inmate's medical treatment. She added she has heard no complaints from Mr. Green or his attorney.
paraphernalia, including a digital scale. There was a dogfighting pit and training equipment for fighting animals on the property, court records said.
Mr. White said police didn't really investigate Mr. Green's connection to the house and can't prove there were any organized fights held at the property. He said officers never witnessed a fight.
"If you have multiple dogs and they fight, that is not a crime," Mr. White said according to a recording of the preliminary hearing.
Cpl. Michael Harper told Judge Wilcox last week he saw eight black men and one white man walking around house during their stakeout - but never saw Mr. Green.
"I can't testify I saw Mr. Green," Cpl. Harper said according to the recording. He explained Mr. Green was charged with the dogfighting because of his proximity to the apparent fights.
Cpl. Harper testified Mr. Green got mail at 85 Glenn Roads and that he had heard from someone Mr. Green was a renter. The police officer didn't know exactly who said that or when.
Judge Wilcox said police need to do more to link Mr. Green to the house.
"Is he a visitor? Did he just go in the bathroom to use the facilities and leave?" he said.
State property records only cloud the issue further. According to online records, 85 Glenns Road is a vacant lot. The property owner, Dorothy Cager, said she doesn't know who Mr. Green is or what address he was really living when he was arrested.
Mr. White said yesterday the dogs weren't his client's, but Mr. Green's aunt, who refused to give her name, said she knew one of the dogs photographed snarling in the newspaper.
"That dog wouldn't even bark when they came in the yard," she said.
The police raid came less than a month after Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges. The case brought dogfighting to the forefront of the American consciousness and led fans and community groups to strongly denounce the NFL player and dogfighting in general.
The Humane Society estimates that 250,000 dogs, overwhelmingly pit bulls, and 140,000 people are involved in dogfighting.
The September raid wasn't the first time police had gone to the Glenns Road home. In April, paramedics were called to the address for a report of a child falling down the stairs, police and fire officials said. The father, Rodney Coates, later admitted that the child had been bitten on the face by a German shepherd and refused to allow his son to be taken to the hospital for treatment.
And two months before police raided the home, county detectives investigated a shooting at the same address.
A group of men ransacked the house, pistol-whipped one woman, and shot Mr. Green. While seriously wounded, Mr. Green managed to crawl out a back bedroom window and stumble into the woods, police said.
Police arrested Paul Anthony Walsh, 39, of 359 Prestonfield Lane, Severna Park, and Ambrose Eugene Rawls Jr., 28, of Baltimore in connection with the shooting. They are charged with attempted murder, assault, attempted armed robbery and various handgun violations and are being held without bond at the Jennifer Road Detention Center.
Mr. White used the wounds Mr. Green received in June as reason his client should be placed on house arrest. He complained the jail isn't treating his client.
Judge Mulford said he might reconsider at a later date, but decided to keep Mr. Green in jail for now.
Robin Harting, superintendent of the county detention facilities, said she can't comment on an inmate's medical treatment. She added she has heard no complaints from Mr. Green or his attorney. | Source: Hometown Glen Burnie - Oct 13, 2007
Update posted on Oct 13, 2007 - 9:36PM |
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