The jury did find Cox, 24, guilty of attempting to interfere with reporting of a crime, a class A misdemeanor.
He will be sentenced on that charge at 9 a.m. Sept. 7. The sentence for class A misdemeanors is up to one year.
The attempting to interfere with reporting a crime charge stemmed from Cox's alleged actions against another motorist on Pearl Drive who tried to stop him from leaving the area before officers arrived.
The jury acquitted Cox of other charges, including: animal cruelty, a level 6 felony; animal cruelty, a class A misdemeanor; and intimidation using a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony.
Cox did not testify but defense attorney John Brinson argued that Cox was unaware the dog was being dragged behind the truck.
Dale Miller, the dog's owner, said the verdict left him shaking.
He said he adopted Hank, a 7 1/2-year-old Great Dane mix, from a rescue operation in Owensboro, Kentucky.
"Hank wasn't just an animal. He was my best friend," he said.
Traumatized by the loss, Miller said he moved to Florida to make a new start and has been seeing a therapist to help him learn to deal with Hank's death.
"I'm still not right," Miller said. "I have recurring nightmares of the same dream where he is looking up at me with his eyes like he is asking me for help."
Earlier on Thursday, special prosecutor Susan Odoyo moved to dismiss two of the four animal cruelty charges Cox originally faced.
Odoyo serves as special prosecutor for the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office's animal cruelty task force.
 |
| RIP Hank |
Also charged in the incident is Jamie Lee McFarland, 44, who is accused of tying the dog to the truck, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Whitney Riggs, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, said it wasn't known yet how the Cox verdict would affect McFarland's case.
Cox is accused of driving the truck from McFarland's Old Henderson Road residence to Pearl Drive on the West Side of Evansville on May 3, reportedly dragging the dog more than five miles, according to the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators believe McFarland was upset with the dog because it had defecated and urinated inside his residence.
McFarland was called to testify at Cox's trial on Wednesday but invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned by Odoyo.
Miller said Thursday he was staying in a room at McFarland's house on Old Henderson Road and working as truck driver for a moving company when the incident happened. He said McFarland, who had a dog of his own, would often be gone for several days at a time.
On the day before the incident, Miller said, he learned that his father had died. Miller said when his boss offered for him to stay the night at his house so he wouldn't have to be alone, that he called McFarland to make sure that he would check on Hank.
"I would never have thought that my friend would do anything like this," Miller said. "I'm not going to forget, but I have to forgive."
(Evansville Courier & Press - July 28, 2016)
Earlier:
