Jury acquits Pit Bull owner...

Too bad it wasn't soon enough to save his dogs....:mad:

http://www.dunndailyrecord.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=87540&TM=42488.2

[font=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]5/21/2007 11:45:00 AM [/font][font=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]Email this article • Print this article [/font] [font=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]Though he won the trial, Marcus Antonio Patterson said he’s still unhappy about losing his 17 dogs. -Daily Record Photo/Steve Reed[/font][font=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]Jury Acquits Pit Bulls Owner[/font]

[font=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]Steve Reed[/font]
[font=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]Reporter[/font]

[font=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]A Harnett County Superior Court Jury deliberated 40 minutes and found a Lillington man not guilty of animal cruelty charges on Friday.

Jurors rendered their verdict after a week-long trial in the case of Marcus Antonius Patterson.

Mr. Patterson, 30, was on trial on felony charges of dog fighting and cruelty to animals. Authorities had seized 17 pit bull dogs from his residence in July 2006 after Dean Morris Moran, a security systems salesperson who is also a retired federal drug enforcement agent, told police he saw a group of men urging two pit bull dogs to fight.

Defense attorney Jesse Jones said Mr. Moran was mistaken and the dogs were actually breeding.

The defendant said he was glad for the truth to come out.

"God is great. I feel good about how everything turned out in court," Mr. Patterson said. "I'm thankful to Jesse Jones and the jury.

"I was glad the truth came out because I'm not the kind of person to lay down, take a plea and not fight for the truth," he said. "There are a lot of cases where people are forced to plea out. I'm glad I didn't have to do that."

Though he won the trial, Mr. Patterson said he's still unhappy about losing his dogs and the unfavorable press he said he received by news media covering the case.

Mr. Patterson paid Harnett County $2,900 to house and feed his dogs at the county animal shelter in Lillington. After he failed to pay additional maintenance fees, the dogs were euthanized in November.

"I'm not happy all the dogs were put down because of the money I paid not to have my dogs put down," Mr. Patterson said. "I lost respect because of the newspaper. They viewed me as a dog fighter and some people now don't want to buy puppies from me because I was viewed as a dog fighter. It was defamation of character.

"At no time was there ever any evidence linking me to dog fighting or animal abuse," he said. "I thank The Daily Record for now allowing me to make my comments known. When it first happened, they had me in the paper for dog fighting but I didn't have a voice."

Mr. Patterson said he does not know when he will resume dog breeding.

"Being all that I've been through, I don't know when I'll start back to breeding," Mr. Patterson said. "I lost a lot of dogs that were valuable to me and my breeding program. I don't know if I'll resume. I lost a lot of dogs and a lot of money."

He said he has not ruled out legal action against those he holds responsible for his misfortune.

"I haven't discussed that yet with my lawyer," Mr. Patterson said. "But for all the losses I took from the loss of my dogs, my money, the pain and suffering and my defamation of character, that's something that's going to be strongly considered."

Mr. Patterson said he is an animal lover and was passionate about his dogs.

"People in the area are passionate about their animals and I'm passionate too," Mr. Patterson said. "I lost my animals and I'm angry about it."

Neither Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins or Assistant District Attorney Emily Henshaw, who prosecuted the case, were available for comment.
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I think he should sue for the cost of the dogs...

 

yeah i hope he sues their asses off for the dogs,defamation of character,pain and suffering.But it doesnt matter,they probably dont care that he wasnt convicted,they got what they wanted and that was dead pit-bulls.

 

That is probably very true, and it's very sad.

 

This is just sad...He better get some kind of compensation for this..

 

He should definetly make them publically apologize in an ad that takes up the entire front page and force them to write ten more good stories of at least 1000 words about the good APBT's out there as part of his settlement.

 

Thats so sad....I agree. He should sue and a public apology is needed especially from the @$$hole who can't tell the difference between two dogs fighting and two dogs breeding!

 

Sad, but it sounds like he's just another yo-yo pumping out pups left & right.

 

Yeah, Miakoda, but who knows what the truth is? The media is so distorted. He may be a BYB, but he was acquited in court of being a dog-fighter. I hope he has the money to sue for his losses...It is not an equal playing field for citizens vs. the government. The government has unlimited access to your tax dollars to persecute you while citizens only have the resources from their jobs or (possibly) inheritances or something.
I would not venture an opinion on what quality of dogs he was breeding as this is the first I heard of the case. I hope he has enough money to sue the government, but probably he doesn't.

 

But is it not a constitutional right in America to be able to be a yo-yo without being prosecuted for it?

I don't agree with what he does, but this case only went to court because the accuser was a retired federal drug enforcement agent and the dogs involved were Pit Bulls. Any other accuser or breed and it probably would not have gone to court. But they got what they wanted, 17 more Pit Bulls removed from the face of the earth.

I don't get how they can destroy evidence in a court case before the trial is over. The only time they allow that to happen is when it involves our breed. If they purposefully destroyed any other type of evidence (CSI type stuff) the repercussions would be astronomical.

 

UGH! Hearing that just breaks my heart...Why doesnt the public understand that Pit Bulls are just like other pets, they wanna be loved!!!!

 

Could be but that we don't know. Don't know what he breeds for or what he is breeding. Bottom line is he was accused of something he was not doing. His dogs are gone and he was innocent. Doesn't matter in this case why he was breeding just that he was not fighting them. It is another case that a man was accused of something he was not doing under our corrupt and quick to jump the gun system.

 

I don't understand it either. It is sick and wrong.

 

from what i understand he can sue for defamation and his animals

however cannot pain and suffering....unless** he was in jail and
had stuff happen to him...

i didnt read the actual article to see IF he was incarcerated
if he was then he should definately contact the
honorable jesse jackson and those type of folk that would make
a good show of

owning a pit while black stance.....its a good try tho
it would put the pit in the light and the govt idiots in the light also
for all to see

the man i pray is innocent....just because he was innocent this time
doesnt mean he hadnt been part of that type of crowd
however, he IS innocent of this charge and therefore , deserves
recompense......thanks for letting me get this out of my system
i had to get in my share of thought

 

Sad thing is that no amount of money can bring those dogs back. Oh you can replace them or buy nice things. But nothing can replace what they did to this man. I do think they owe them big time. That is a scarey thing to know you can loose all even if innocent. Your job, your face in public and your neighborhood it is just bad. Innocent or not he will be known for that trouble. oh that is that dog fighting guy. Even though he didn't do it. Media published it and made him a public specticle. This here article will not wipe that away. I feel the media owes him five times the amount the local govt. does.

 

I would SUE the shit out of EVERYONE involved!!!!!

Its the only way this shit will stop. I bet it was also a racial deal too!!!!

 

I agree. fully.

 

Oh I agree. My comment wasn't one of 'conviction' but rather just an opinion formed based one his own comments of being just a breeder. And unfortunately, that alone isn't a crime.

 

If breeding were a crime most of us would be guilty. Be hard to maitain a yard if you didn't. I believe that some should not breed dogs but I don't want to regulate it with some form of government intrusion to do so. It sure would be nice if people were more selective that is for sure. Selective in what they breed if at all and selective in who they allow dogs to go to. I sure don't want some black tie telling me what I can and can't do on my own land.