An 11th-hour request has pushed back the Tuesday trial date of Radoslaw Czerkawski, 36, in Dedham, Massachusetts, in a case that has received widespread attention due to the extremity of the abuse involved.
A new trial date of January 9 has been tentatively set following a defense request 'based on a medical condition of the defendant', prosecutors told the Boston Globe in a statement.
The trial had already been delayed once for a prosecutor's medical procedure.
In August of 2013, a one-year old pit bull mix was found starving and emaciated in a park in the south suburbs of Boston.
Puppy Doe had fractures, a stab wound to her eye and a split tongue, and was euthanized on the advice of veterinarians.
Czerkawski, a Polish national who was living in the US on an expired tourist visa, is already serving six to ten years in prison for stealing $130,000 from an elderly woman in his care, and stealing another $4,500 from the St. Lawrence Martyr Parish church in New Bedford.
He was working in Quincy as Janina Stock's caretaker when she died at the age of 95 of natural causes on August 31, 2013.
Puppy Doe was found the same day cowering in terror in a nearby park.
Investigators said they found Puppy Doe's blood in the second-floor Quincy residence where Czerkawski was living.
Police say Czerkaswki left Puppy Doe in the park a day after his client passed away. Her death certificate stated that the woman died from 'failure to thrive' caused by her illness.
Authorities do not believe that Czerkaswki had anything to do with the woman’s passing.
Czerkawski has pleaded not guilty to the animal abuse charges, saying that youths drinking in the park were to blame for the horrific crime. His attorney has questioned the DNA evidence against him.
The case generated massive outrage as it wended through the courts, with Czerkawski standing trial for the two theft cases before facing the animal cruelty charges.
Last week, Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Kenneth J. Fishman issued strict rules for animal rights protesters attending the trial, prohibiting them from bringing buttons, signs or shirts into court denigrating Czerkawski or supporting Puppy Doe.
The judge also created a 500-foot buffer zone around the courthouse where demonstrations about the trial are prohibited, in an effort to preserve decorum and prevent jurors from being unduly swayed.
Both prosecutors and Czerkawski's attorneys had agreed the decorum rules were necessary.
The case has gripped the local community and animal lovers nationwide ever since the one-year-old dog was found near a play park with signs that she had been beaten, burned, starved and stabbed in the eyes in what was described as 'medieval' torture.
Animal rescue workers described the injuries inflicted on the pit bull, including a crude split to give it a forked serpent tongue, as the worst they had ever seen.
She had also been burned on the nose, stabbed in the eye, and beaten so severely that she could barely walk.
Veterinarians at the Animal Rescue League of Boston who treated the dog said that she was emaciated and weighed half of what would be expected for her age.
When she was first found it was thought that she had been hit by a car, but the true nature of her injuries soon came to light.
Vet Martha Smith-Blackmore was so shocked by the extent of the abuse that she had to walk away and give herself a break as she examined the dog's body.
'Her joints were pulled apart like medieval times,' she said at the time. 'She was beaten, stabbed, burned over weeks to months and maybe her whole life. And could not walk.'
The vet added: 'When I saw how vulnerable she was and I understood immediately the duration of her suffering, my heart collapsed.'
As well as the burn and stab marks, the dog's vertebrae had been smashed from being hit by a baseball bat or board.
Although there was no evidence of sexual interference, which the vet said can be seen in such abuse cases, the dog's joints had been separated from being pulled apart repeatedly.
Smith-Blackmore said that the dog's injuries were so severe she would have been in constant pain for the rest of her life if she hadn't been put down.
Despite the pain and suffering Puppy Doe had clearly experienced in her short life, staff at the rescue center said she was sweet natured.
'Within hours of being found she had pain medication, food and love,' said Smith-Blackmore. 'She experienced some tenderness and some care at the end of her life.'
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