Bradley Glenn Boley, 61, is accused of trapping his dog in a kennel on a hot stove because the dog nipped at him in February 2014. The white Chihuahua, named Buddy, later had to be put to sleep.
If convicted of animal cruelty, Boley could receive probation — or face up to 10 years in prison.
Jurors heard Boley’s version of events for the first time Thursday, when prosecutors played a video of his interview with police and then rested their case.
The defense began presenting its case on the third day of what has become a contentious trial. Prosecutor Felicia Kerney and defense attorney Lisa Fox have raised vigorous objections to each other’s questioning this week, culminating Thursday when the judge called for civility in the courtroom and also denied Fox’s request for a mistrial.
Fox contends that her client is innocent because the burning was an accident. Her argument centers on the fact that the stove reportedly had not worked for some time when Boley put the puppy in its cage on top of it.
Boley told police he had been training Buddy not to bite, so when the dog nipped him on Feb. 17, 2014, he put him in his cage on the stove for a time out. He denied turning on the burner.
“I freakin’ slammed his ass in there and said ‘bad dog’ and turned around and went upstairs to do my laundry,” he said during the videotaped interview. “That’s all I did. I didn’t think about burning the dog to punish him.”
Boley said the stove had not been working for about a year and a half, but speculated he must have “jarred” it during recent cleaning to make it function. He suggested that it was Buddy who slipped his paw through the kennel to turn the knob up.
“I don’t know how else to explain it,” he told police, who pointed out that the appliance came with safety knobs.
Boley also said he heard the puppy yelping from upstairs, but believed Buddy was simply protesting being put in his cage.
But previous testimony indicated that Buddy’s crying was so excessive that it woke one neighbor up and prompted another to come check on the dog. That neighbor, Jerrod Foote, also testified this week that Boley recently made a meal on the stove he claimed was broken.
That testimony prompted an outburst from Boley. “Liar,” he cried out, only to earn a scolding from state District Judge Stephanie Mitchell.
On Thursday, the defense called another neighbor as a witness who testified that Foote had a reputation for being untruthful. Boley’s brother also testified that the stove had not been working.
The stove did function on the day Buddy was injured, however, growing so hot that the veterinarian who performed his necropsy said the puppy had burns on 100 percent of his body.
Buddy’s injuries indicated that he desperately tried to escape while suffering fourth-degree burns and smoke inhalation, said Dr. Deborah Thorne, who testified that she believed Buddy was tortured.
Her testimony contradicted that of the vet who treated Buddy. Dr. Ashley Welch wrote in a medical report that she had “no indication to assume a malice act” because Boley seemed distraught at the clinic.
But Thorne, who testified to her experience in cruelty cases, said Buddy would have died of extreme exposure to heat, fire and steam if he had not been put to sleep.
“There was no saving this puppy,” she said.
(Dallas Morning News - Dec 3, 2015)
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