The jury acquitted a man of charges that he purposely dragged a dog to its death behind the pickup truck he was driving in February 2004.

Joshua David Gordon, 21, of Hyndman, said he was trying to take the dog to a new home and it was tied to the truck's rear when it jumped or fell from the truck bed and was dragged for two miles. Gordon said a hole in the truck's muffler, and loud Jethro Tull music on the radio, kept him and Charles Logsdon, 48, from hearing the dog or passersby who saw the animal and yelled at them to stop.

Logsdon is awaiting trial later this month. His defense attorney, Dwight Diehl, said Logsdon has the mental capacity of a 6-year-old.

Gordon, who testified that he can't read or write and completed 12th grade in a special education class, told the jury that acquitted him Wednesday that he repeatedly told Logsdon to watch the dog as they drove to take it to Gordon's aunt's home.

The Bedford County jury deliberated for 2 1/2 hours before finding Gordon not guilty of conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals.

Shellsburg District Justice Erika McVicker on Wednesday (March 24, 2004) ruled prosecutors have enough evidence to try Joshua Gordon, 21, and Charles Logsdon, 48, on animal cruelty and conspiracy charges stemming from the Feb. 22 death of Logsdon's dog.

During a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors showed pictures of the dog's mangled body and had a man testify he heard the dog yelping as Gordon drove by his Bedford County home. A state trooper testified they followed a 2-mile blood trail on the road and found the dog's carcass.

Attorneys for the men argued the dog's death was an accident and prosecutors had little evidence they planned to kill the dog.

"What's alleged to have happened is something terrible without question. But was this willful and malicious? It is not," said Troy Daughtery, Gordon's attorney.


After the hearing, Gordon and Logsdon were taken to the Bedford County Jail where they were being held on $5,000 bond each.