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Dogfighting trial judge: No more talking |
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Wednesday, 20 August 2008 |
Gag order issued in trial over fighting ring
Saline County Circuit Judge Gary Arnold has placed a gag order on attorneys involved in the jury trial of a Mabelvale man accused of running a dogfighting ring in the East End area.
Testimony began Tuesday in the trial of Patrick Janiszewski, 26, who faces 27 felony counts of dogfighting and 27 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals.
Janiszewski was arrested at his job in Little Rock on Jan. 11 in connection with a dogfighting ring raid in northeast Saline County on Jan. 3.
Testimony continued today in the trial, which Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady said could last until Thursday.
Dogfighting is illegal in all North American countries and is a felony in 48 states, including Arkansas, according to the Humane Society of the United States. According to Arkansas law, it is also a misdemeanor to be a spectator at a dogfighting event.
On Jan. 3, Saline County sheriff’s deputies raided residences at 15001 Gingerbread Lane and 23001 U.S. 167, both in the East End community, and seized 36 dogs that alleged to be involved in dogfighting.
The raid occurred after a six-month investigation by the sheriff’s office, the Humane Society of Pulaski County and the Humane Society of the United States.
Jay Sabatucci, regional coordinator for the Humane Society of the United States, helped local authorities determine whether the residences were being used to train and fight dogs. He told officers that he believed there was enough evidence to support the theory that there are illegal dogfighting rings in Saline County.
Sabatucci also said the dogs “were horribly scarred,” a sign he said is “indicative of dogfighting.”
Janiszewski was arrested eight days later at his job in Little Rock. Authorities later arrested Kenny J. Mahomes, 43, of 23001 U.S. 167 and Chris A. Carter, 32, of 15001 Gingerbread Lane.
Mahomes is scheduled to appear before Judge Arnold on Oct. 7 and Carter will appear before Circuit Judge Grisham Phillips on Sept. 30.
Sabatucci said on Jan. 4 that there was evidence on not only a dogfighting ring, but also a training facility for the dogs.
“If you go out to those locations, you’ll find treadmills and slapmills,” Sabatucci said.
“There will be what we call spring poles, which are hides tied to a tree or ropes that animals will grab with their mouths and spring up and down with ... one of the facilities actually had a [dogfighting] pit with carpet with what appeared to be blood on it and it was a collapsable pit. They had beak sticks/parking sticks with what appeared to be blood on them, which is what they use to open the animals jaws during the fight when they get hung up.”
Sheriff Phil Mask said he also saw evidence that the dogs were used in illegal fighting and that he wanted to end any of the activity locally.
“Some of those dogs were sickly,” Mask said. “They were in need of medical treatment, their faces had dog bites and [one dog] had a eye taken out ... we were able to get them treatment and get them back to their health. Hopefully we’ll put a dent in our community dogfighting. We do take this seriously and we are going to continue to follow up.”
Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Frost said the task of shutting down all dogfighting rings and training facilities can be “very hard.” He said that by the time authorities find out about dogfighting rings, there isn’t sufficient time to assemble the manpower to raid a facility.
“People involved in the activity will disburse before officers get close to the area,” he said. “It is a very closed society and it is hard to be able to know when and where the dogfighting is occurring. Many times, we don’t know until the day of the dogfight and there is not enough time to get a search warrant. We are also talking about a large amount of money, guns and drugs probably being involved in it. That can put officers at risk, so they also have to take extra precaution when entering a suspected facility.”
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