Dewane Edward Rickman, 59, of 1228 Gholson Ave. was on trial in Forsyth District Court but decided to plead guilty to two counts of misdemeanor assault inflicting serious injury. Prosecutors Katherine King and Matt Breeding agreed to dismiss misdemeanor assault charges against Rickman’s wife, Debra Holland, who was on the porch during the attack.
Breeding said that Holland, 52, is blind and was in no position to prevent or stop the attack.
Forsyth District Judge Laurie Hutchins gave Rickman a suspended sentence of 60 days in jail and placed him on 18 months of supervised probation. One of the conditions of his probation is that he not own any animals, including dogs. He also has to perform 50 hours of community service and pay court costs and attorney fees.
The three dogs in the June attack were seized by animal-control officers and were labeled dangerous dogs. The couple had to pay a $1,080 bond to get them back or the dogs would be euthanized. The dogs were euthanized, said Tim Jennings, the director of Forsyth County Animal Control.
Rickman received multiple civil citations that came as a result of an attack in September 2012, involving different dogs, on Kim Payne, who suffered deep puncture wounds to her thigh and arm.
Prosecutors used Rickman’s previous civil citations to charge Rickman and Holland with assault under a theory of criminal negligence.
Debra Dickerson-King, the FedEx driver attacked in June, testified Tuesday that she was delivering a package to the couple’s home around 11:30 a.m. June 3.
Holland was sitting on the left side of the porch. Dickerson-King said she stood at the bottom of the steps while Holland verified a name on the package. Then she heard barking and saw a dog rush out the screen door, Dickerson-King said.
She said she fell forward and got into a crouched position. Her head was scratched, and she felt dogs bite her arm and legs. She put her hands up across her forehead.
Dickerson-King testified that she believed she might die and yelled “Help me, Jesus” about 20 times.
Broderick Boston, who was visiting his brother-in-law four houses away, said he heard Dickerson-King scream and ran to help her. He said he saw three dogs attacking Dickerson-King and that he punched and kicked the dogs to get them off her. Then the dogs started to attack him, biting him in the leg.
He said Rickman was on the porch when he got there.
“He was just standing there like he was in a daze,” Boston said.
Payne, who lived about seven houses from Rickman, testified she heard faint cries, like those from a child, during the June attack and ran with her son to help Dickerson-King. She said she also saw Rickman on the porch and that he didn’t do anything to help Dickerson-King.
Payne testified that last September, she was walking by Rickman’s house when the front door opened and a dog came out. Then the door opened a second time, and about five dogs came out, she said.
Three of the dogs attacked her, she said. She said she sustained 13 dog bites and that she was bitten in her thigh, leg, arm and buttocks.
Rickman was cited for failing to control a vicious animal, cruelty to animals, failing to restrain his dogs, possessing a dangerous dog, not having up-to-date rabies vaccinations for his dogs and failing to register his dogs.
In an interview last year, Rickman said he couldn’t afford to pay the citations. Animal-control officers seized four adult dogs and seven puppies after the September attack. The adult dogs were euthanized and the puppies were successfully placed for adoption.
Ron Ingle, Rickman’s attorney, said that Rickman is sorry for what happened and has agreed not to own any animals. Ingle said Rickman is the sole caretaker of Holland, his wife.
After Hutchins issued her ruling, Holland asked about the couple’s cat. Hutchins agreed that the couple could keep the cat. The cat’s name is Tiger.
(Winston-Salem Journal - Aug 20 2013)
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