Bacon, 30, suggested that the pit bull opened the door to the van before the attack. Or, he said, the dog could have jumped out the window.
But even his own defense lawyer, David Zukher, countered that numerous witnesses saw Bacon open the van door before the late-night May 12, 2014 attack on Essex Street in Syracuse.
State Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti suggested that Bacon may have been so drunk at the time he didn't remember what happened.
"Since the arrest, you've been stone-cold sober," the judge said. "It's frustrating you because you can't believe you were guilty of that."
Brunetti then sentenced Bacon to 13 years in prison today for the attack that cost Steven Cruse, 51, half his pinky and left other permanent injuries. His sentence was extended because he previously robbed someone less than a decade before the attack.
Prosecutor Michael Manfredi had asked for 20 years in prison.
In a bizarre 20-minute sentencing, defense lawyer Zukher spent most of it defending himself from attacks by his own client, who told the judge not everything was presented at his trial last month.
Zukher responded that the additional evidence, from the van's driver, was so conflicting and baseless that it wasn't worthy of belief.
"I would have been perpetrating fraud against the court, and it would have made things 10 times worse," Zukher said.
Bacon responded a short time later by telling his lawyer he didn't trust him.
But minutes later, Zukher defended Bacon when asked to address the court before the judge's sentence.
There's no way Bacon could have known the dog would attack, Zukher argued. He downplayed conflicting testimony that Bacon may have ordered the dog to attack.
The dog was barely trained to sit, he said, let alone attack. That's important because Bacon was found guilty by jury of using the dog as a weapon, much like a knife or a gun.
But Brunetti noted that Bacon had told the victim, "You want a piece of me?" before opening the van door.
ATTACK BEGAN WHEN PIT BULLS ATTACKED HIS DOG
The whole incident had begun minutes before, when two loose pit bulls began attacking Cruse's elderly German Shepherd.
Cruse rushed out to protect his elderly dog, eventually lying on his pet with his arms around the dog's neck in an effort to stave off the attack, said prosecutor Michael Manfredi. He suffered bite marks as the pit bulls continued attacking.
The ruckus caused neighbors to come outside and there were multiple witnesses to the attack. A 15-year-old boy jumped into the fray in an attempt to protect Cruse and his dog.
Today, Brunetti called the boy a hero, noting that the boy jumped in while adults stood by and watched.
VICTIM SAYS PIT OWNER TRIED TO FLEE WITH DOGS
Moments later, a minivan pulled up and the dogs jumped in. Cruse, seeing that the perpetrators were getting away, threatened to call police.
That's when Bacon confronted him and opened the door, letting a 90-pound pit bull out again.
It's that second attack that caused Cruse to lose half of his pinky finger and sustain permanent injuries to his right hand, Manfredi said.
The pit bull then jumped into the van and the perpetrators took off.
Bacon was identified the next day after police investigating the attack located the van. The pit bulls belonged to someone else.
Bacon said today that he "didn't mean any of this to happen. Just wanted to help a friend get the dogs back."
He noted he'll be leaving behind a family and children when he goes to prison. "I'm fighting for my life," Bacon said.
(Syracuse.com - May 29, 2015)
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