Toledo Municipal Court Judge Michelle Wagner accepted a plea agreement in which Dancie Murrey pleaded no contest to the charge of failure to attempt to keep the dog under reasonable control, a second-degree misdemeanor that carried a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.
She sentenced Ms. Murrey, who had no prior criminal record, to a 90-day suspended jail sentence, three years probation, and a $500 fine.
In a separate civil matter, Ms. Murrey, who was represented by Cleveland attorney Kristi Haude, hoped to appeal the Lucas County dog warden's designation of the dog as vicious.
But she agreed to withdraw the request for a hearing and to abide by all the restrictions placed on owners of vicious dogs in exchange for her dog not being euthanized and released from the pound.
Those restrictions include carrying liability insurance and posting vicious dog signs on the dog owner's property.
The dog must be on a leash when in the yard, or if unleashed, it must be in a secure, locked pen with a locked top.
The dog must be spayed within two weeks and registered as a vicious dog with the county auditor, which will provide a vicious dog tag that it must wear on its collar.
The dog, a 3-year-old black and white American bulldog named Cambria, had jumped out of a car when Ms. Murrey's mother, Diane Murrey, was watching it. The dog bit a neighborhood child, resulting in 21 stitches.
[Most 'simple bites' do not require 21 stitches. The child must have been attacked.]
Judge Wagner also ordered that the dog not be allowed at Diane Murrey's residence.
Ms. Haude said that her client sincerely regretted the incident.
"Every single time I have talked to her, she has just bawled," Ms. Haude told the court. "Not only because she was worried about her dog, but because she truly feels bad about the bite incident."
Carolynn Boose, the victim's mother, was also in court at the dog warden's request. Ms. Boose said the dog is vicious and had asked the court to rule that it should be killed. Ms. Boose was scratched and bitten when she was trying to prevent her daughter, Markayla Banks, from being bitten. She received a tetanus shot for her injury.
No sutures were required, she said. She is pursuing a civil lawsuit against Ms. Murrey as a result of the injuries her daughter incurred.
Dancie Murrey and her fiance, Jade Juhasz, had a joyful reunion with Cambria at the pound. Ms. Murrey had been allowed to visit her but Mr. Juhasz had not seen her since she was seized July 13.
"I'm going to make her a steak dinner tonight," he said.
Charges for holding the dog at the pound totaled $474.52. Ms. Murrey had posted a $100 care bond when the dog was seized. She was required to pay the remaining amount Thursday.
Separately, Ms. Boose is facing a charge of assault and aggravated menacing, both first-degree misdemeanors that carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, after allegedly punching Diane Murrey in the face, waving a gun, and threatening to shoot her.
A relative of Ms Boose's, Leroy Mann, Jr., is charged with aggravated misdemeanor for approaching Diane Murrey with a handgun and threatening her.
At Ms. Murrey's request, Judge Wagner issued an order that prohibits Ms. Boose and Mr. Mann from having contact with Diane Murrey.
Mr. Mann would not agree to the terms of the temporary protection order, which would require him to surrender his firearms; a hearing was set for 9 a.m. Aug. 16. His bond was set at $5,000.
Ms. Boose began crying during her bond hearing because she said she had no money to post bail and had to be at work at 10 p.m. Judge Wagner set her hearing for the same time as Mr. Mann and released her on a supervised recognizance bond.
(Toledo Blade - August 10, 2012)
