A Judge dismissed the case last week, but the Hamdpen County DA’s office said they will continue to pursue the charge.
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| Freddie Guy and his attorney Jeremy Powers Photo: Mark Murray, The Republican |
Freddie Guy, 66, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty last November. Police were sent to Guy’s home at 370 Stapleton Road after a 911 call from a neighbor around 11:00 a.m.
When they got there they found a dead 6-month-old, 4-pound Chihuahua puppy, named Bruno on Guy’s front lawn.
Bruno belonged to a neighbor, Joanne Sanchez-Snyder. 22News spoke with her soon after the dog was killed, “Why he did that I don’t know it was just a puppy…I’m just really upset, I’m sorry. I’ve been up all night. I can’t sleep, that was my dog.”
The neighbor told police she was tending to her children across the street when she heard a dog yelping in pain. She told police she had seen Guy leaving his garage carrying some type of object and walking toward two dogs that were on his lawn barking.
Early indications were that the dog had been beaten. The preliminary autopsy was done Tuesday afternoon and showed a puncture wound in the dog's side and a small metal projectile in one of its lungs. An autopsy showed the tiny dog had been killed with a BB gun.
Police charged Guy with animal cruelty. He plead not guilty, saying the neighbor is lying.
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| An animal control officer wraps up the dead dog Springfield police take notes. At first it was thought that the puppy had been beaten to death with a baseball bat, but he was killed by a BB gun. Photo: Patrick Johnson, The Republican |
Animal cruelty is a felony in Massachusetts, punishable by up to 7 years in a state prison or up to a $5,000 fine.
Guy said the neighbor giving information to police was lying and maintains he is innocent.
Court records showed the prosecution had 11 witnesses to call upon in the case. Hampden County District Attorney spokesman Jim Leydon told 22News, a key witness was out of town and it created a scheduling conflict.
Guy’s trial had already been postponed once before, and rescheduled at the request of the Assistant District Attorney. At the most recent court date, the case was dismissed, and the Assistant District Attorney filed paperwork to refile the charge against Guy.
THE TECHNICAL REASON WHY THE CASE WAS DISMISSED AND THE CHARGE RE-FILED BY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Judge William Hadley dismissed the case on Aug. 3 after refusing to give prosecutors more time to prepare for trial.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the prosecution could refile the animal cruelty charge against Guy [which is what they did].
The ruling came after Assistant District Attorney Thomas Prendergast asked for a one-month extension, citing a misunderstanding over the trial date.
Prosecution witnesses were prepared for a trial in early September, Prendergast told the judge. Defense lawyer Jeremy Powers objected to the delay, saying the trial had already been postponed once to accommodate the prosecution. At Powers' request, the judge dismissed the case on the grounds that the prosecution could not proceed on the day of trial.
Sounds like they had a scheduling conflict in trying to get all 11 witnesses to court on a particular day.
Freddie Guy’s Attorney, Jeremy Powers told 22News, “It’s a very defensible case and if it were to go to trial I feel very confident that Mr. Guy would be acquitted.”
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