Case Details
Case Snapshot
Case ID: 12781
Classification: Throwing
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
More cases in Sedgwick County, KS
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Abuse was retaliation against animal's bad behavior
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Attorneys/Judges
Prosecutor(s): Aaron Smith
Defense(s): Lawrence Williamson
Judge(s): Joe Kisner




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Two puppies slammed together, thrown to ground
Wichita, KS (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Nov 22, 2006
County: Sedgwick

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Acquitted

Person of Interest: Marques Eason

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

The first felony animal cruelty case tried in Wichita will focus on what happened to a 4-month-old puppy named Apollo -- and whether his caretaker really meant to hurt him.

Two witnesses testified at a preliminary hearing Friday that they saw Marques Eason, 33, throw Apollo down on Nov. 22, 2006, at his house in the 1100 block of North Pershing. But their accounts differed.

Apollo, a Dachshund mix, died later that day from internal injuries caused by blunt-force trauma, a veterinarian said.

That was enough for Sedgwick County District Judge Joe Kisner to bind Eason over for trial under a statute that makes animal cruelty a felony. Eason pleaded not guilty, and his trial was set for March 10.

Duane Blocker, 20, testified that he was sitting at the computer when Eason, his stepfather, walked out the front door on his way to a gym. Eason turned and went into the front yard, and Blocker said he heard "a screeching sound... like a little puppy being scared."

The family had two young puppies they were trying to get rid of and they were supposed to stay in the backyard, Blocker said.

Blocker said he saw Eason carry two puppies -- one of them Apollo -- into the living room, knock their heads together "like a set of cymbals," and throw them to the floor.

One of the puppies did not appear to be injured, but Apollo staggered and collapsed, bleeding from his mouth and nose, Blocker testified. The dog also defecated involuntarily, he said.

Blocker said he and his sister took the dog to a veterinary clinic, where they were told it would likely need surgery and may not survive. They were then sent to Heartland Animal Hospital on North Woodlawn, where Apollo died.

Ann Mehlisch, a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, testified that she was delivering mail in the 1000 block of North Pershing that same day when she "heard a dog screaming."

She looked over toward the house where the sound came from in the next block and saw Eason lift a black puppy above his head and slam it onto the ground or front stoop.

Yelling something she could not understand, he went inside the house, Mehlisch said. She called animal control to report the incident but did not confront Eason because "I felt my job at that point was to deliver the mail," she testified.

Michelle Rypma, a veterinarian at the animal hospital, said she performed a necropsy on Apollo and found both lungs full of blood and a torn liver that had bled into the abdomen. The puppy suffocated on its own blood, she said.

The injuries were consistent with a young dog that had been thrown to the ground, she said.

The felony statute, called Magnum's Law or Scruffy's Law after two dogs that were tortured, has been in effect since July 2006.

Scruffy was a Yorkshire terrier that was set on fire and fatally beaten in Kansas City, Kan., in 1997. Magnum was a puppy found in Wichita in August 2005, wrapped in wire with cuts, chemical burns and a broken leg.

Magnum's suffering and subsequent death outraged the public and bolstered support for the legislation.

Eason declined to comment after the hearing. His attorney, Lawrence Williamson, said jurors will need to pay close attention to Eason's intent when he was handling the dog.

If he is convicted, Eason faces anywhere from 30 days to a year in jail and a fine of as much as $5,000.


Case Updates

Jurors deliberated less than an hour before finding Marques Eason not guilty of felony abuse of an animal.

The verdict Tuesday afternoon was the culmination of a daylong trial in the first case tried in Sedgwick County under a 2006 law that makes animal abuse a felony.

Eason had testified that he accidentally dropped a 4-month-old Dachshund mix puppy, fatally injuring it.

Attorney Lawrence Williamson asked the jury to give Eason's testimony the same credence as that of the state's witnesses.

"The family of this puppy allowed him to continue to care for their other dog through May of 2008 -- and this happened in November 2006," Williamson said in his closing arguments, referring to Eason. "Everyone but the state knows this is an accident."

Prosecutor Aaron Smith said the injuries were too severe to be an accident, pointing to a necropsy report from Wichita veterinarian Michelle Rypma. A necropsy is an autopsy performed on an animal.

"The veterinarian said it would take the force of being struck by a car to kill this animal," Smith said.

Jurors told lawyers afterward that they found Eason's actions hadn't been malicious -- one component of the law.
Source: The Wichita Eagle - Aug 6, 2008
Update posted on Aug 6, 2008 - 8:49AM 

References


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