Springfield attorney Claude M. Kicklighter may not be a pit bull of a lawyer but his client certainly is. Kicklighter’s new client is Kno, a pit bull facing euthanasia after attacking a five year old boy. Judge William E. Woodrum Jr. has enlisted Kicklighter pro bono to represent the dog. In layman’s term, that means it will be all bark and no bones for Kicklighter.
Kno attacked Wesley Frye, 5, while Wesley was playing with a friend inside a neighbor’s home. One of the dog’s owners, Julie Long, stopped the attack, but Wesley had to undergo two surgeries. The dog was declared dangerous by the state and the owners surrendered ownership. The dog’s other owner, Larry A. Long Jr., was told that he could request a hearing to challenge the dog’s classification.
He did not request a hearing and the county moved to euthanize. I am a bit surprise by the appointment of counsel since this is often done without a hearing, let alone representation. Moreover, absent a case of mistaken identity, Kno meets the legal definition of a vicious animal in the attack. Indeed, some jurisdictions have laws categorically barring pit bulls or, more commonly, declaring them to be vicious or dangerous animals. The latter approach triggers common law strict liability for any bites.
The Longs certain have reason to worry if Kno had a previously history of vicious behavior. The common law “one free bite rule” is a misnomer. A bite is not needed if the dog has displayed vicious tendencies by charging neighbors or destroying property.
One of the most infamous cases involved two lawyers. Lawyers Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel were successfully prosecuted after their huge “Presa Canario” dogs mauled and killed neighbor, Diane Whipple, in the hallway of her San Francisco apartment building in January 2001. Whipple was bitten 77 times and the dogs nearly severed her vertebrae.
Jurors found Marjorie Knoller’s husband, Robert Noel, guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and found Knoller guilty of second-degree murder.
The common law rule also applies to wild animals. Defining some animals as wild can be done with reference to statutes or the lack of animus revertendi (the habit of return). The most common category in the United States is the possession of wolves or part-wolf animals as pets.
The decision not to contest the classification might come at a legal cost. While the Longs could still argue that there was no basis for considering Kno a dangerous animal before the attack, a plaintiffs’ lawyer could try to get into evidence the determination by the court. It would be the subject of a pre-trial motion and could be kept out of trial. However, what if the court based its decision not simply on the attack but the dog’s behavior before the attack?
Either way, the Longs could be looking at liability under either a strict liability or negligence theory.
Source: Savannah
The problem is kids will be kids. I recall one of my frineds when I was little, older then 5 probably, who repeatedly poked at our gordon setter. she was being really annoying and repeatedly asked to leave the dog alone. At one poiint Rebel had had enough and turned her head and gave Agnes a dirty look. It was enough to stop her.
I don;t know why the dog behaved as it did, none of us can – absent the dogalogue of Fairlybalanced. The accepted belief is once they bite the propensity is better for them to do it again. Sadly in this case, better to be wrong then have another child, or adult go through what this child had to and will continue to go through. I know, as many of us do, what it is like to have scars, emotional and physical. Neither just disappear.
I agree with BettyKath, ArtieWhiteFox and Kraaken. Was the five year old on a leash and if not, then why not? Did someone witness the entire event, and if not then why did the person intervene as soon as doggie was in view of sonnyboy? If no witness then dont believe Sonnyboy. Take the dog to a Dogalogue machine and get his version. Remember this, if you kill that dog, when your time comes up in that big reception area in the sky, the person sitting in for Saint Peter will likely be a Pitt Bull. The best you will do is pull a stretch as a woman in some Limbo place on Earth like Afghanistan where the fairness factor is about what a pitt bull gets in most cities in America. Hell would be a stretch in New York City as a school teacher. If you save the dog you will save your soul. Dog spelled backwards is God. Be careful out there.
Jeri, if you cannot imagine a situation where a 5 year old presented a threat, then I must assume you don’t know many 5 year olds.
Darren, what about the child attacking the dog? Fair IS fair.
Well said, Bettykath.
pit bulls as a breed are extremely calm and friendly…they are among the most affectionate and loyal of the canine species. however, like all animals, including human animals, there are a bad few. i cannot imagine a situation where a 5 year old was a threat. i have allowed my own pit bulls near babies,including my own grandchildren, knowing that the only danger they faced was being licked into a stupor; the dogs always exhibited a protective a nurturing instinct when introduced to children. i firmly believe that they would have died to protect them, even complete strangers. they were treated by the dogs as if they were the dog’s own young. i would submit that a dog who does attack a child is a significant danger. no matter my love for my dogs, had they ever attacked a child it would be the last time. i would not allow for the opportunity for it to ever occur to any child again.
put lipstick on the dog. the jury’ll never convict a hockey mom.
My 85 lb pittie mix sleeps beside my wife and i every night. He’s a lovely dog but very intimidating if you don’t know him. i keep an eye on him or have him right beside me when visitors are about, but keep him at a distance from strangers and my grandchildren (when they were younger).
i feel bad for the owners of this dog and for the victim, who will probably be traumatized for life over the incident. Many dogs, including pits, don’t know what to do with little kids and the owners need to be vigilant (like put the dog in another room when kids are around) not negligent.
i was tutoring a high school boy once who had a giant 135 lb mastiff in a cage in the kitchen where we worked. The boy’s mother came and took him out and he followed her around and stayed with her until i was done. Mother and i were conversing as i was putting on my jacket to leave when the dog leaped up and grabbed my outstreched arm as it was going through the sleeve. He bit down pretty hard (enough to bruise) but didn’t break through all that jacket and long sleeve shirt material. i felt bad that i had to report it to the school district i was working for, but didn’t file any charges or recommend any action be taken. The dog may have thought i was playing or perhaps he was overprotective and thought it was a threatening gesture – either way i couldn’t bring myself to blame the dog. The woman apologized profusely, offered to drive me to the hospital, offered money – she was afraid too and practically in tears. i brushed it off since there really wasn’t any harm done and only reminded her to keep the dog at a distance from strangers unless they seem like a threat. She was very grateful.
i hope the dog gets another chance at life someplace or maybe gets some training (always a good idea with these bully breeds).
Kaysieverding, I had same with my cat, feeding him some shrimp and he thought there was still some left and bit my finger by mistake. Hospital reported it and my cat then had a record.
From the article there is no way to know if there was behavior by the kids that prompted the dog to act. I am a dog person but I am sorry to say I agree with the state, whether the dig was provoked or not.
I was sold a house that I was lied into buying, told one kind of electric (romex) after buying fiund out frayed and dangerous knob and tube, told little bit of asbestos, turns out all throughout basement.
It will take me 1/2 of my assets to fix problems undisclosed, by inspector and agent: that is all the money I have in the world absent the house which, if I sell, and may not be able to because I lost my insurance once I informed co I had K&T wiring, and they told me they doubt any buyer could get insurance.
I am on fixed income and have some assets. lawyers either want 250 – 350$ hour I cant afford/ or the case is not worth their time. Pro bono all turned me down. Where I live the only optioin for low income is legal aid which does not take cases that may potentially generate monetary damages. Better I should be a dog.
Send the dog to Cesar Milan. He knows that pit bulls are great pets, as long as they are well trained and conditioned to know that humans are their pack leaders.
While I find the legal mechanics of this as pointed out by our professor to be interesting, from a practical sense this is inane. Dogs do not have due process rights any more than a shrubbery does. And if it comes to where one particular animal has the right to counsel what about wild animals, cows and chickens? Where does it end?
If through this legal chicanery the dog is released and attacks another child was this a better situation for the child or any one else? If the dog’s a menace I am not in favor of it being a risk to anyone else. Put it down for the safety of others. The legal rights of a dog being more important than a person’s safety? Shame on us.
Plus what of the owner? If this dog is released and subsequently attacks another person the civil liability the owner would face would be extreme. Hope it was worth it to him.
The only answer for people it seems is kill, kill, kill.. How can kill be the answer to anything? If kill was the answer to anything why didn’t jesus show us kill, kill, kill? That is because kill, kill, kill, is not the answer.
Hope the dog gets a pardon. The pit bulls that I know: roofus, mia, val, roxie, are all sweetie’s. A long time ago, our dog, Pokey, was chained up in our back yard. A 5 year old was visiting next door and thought it great fun to poke him repeatedly with a stick. Pokey couldn’t get away. One poke must have really hurt and he nipped the kid. His outraged parents wanted to have the dog put down. I was more inclined to want the kid put down.
I fail to understand why destroying the animal is the only option when at the very least a sanctuary could be an option. If this was provoked behavior ( not a 100% defense) then there should be some leniency. Is this retaliation?
This is not unprecedented. Gary L. Francione, a top constitutional scholar who was at U/Penn and who is now apparently at Rutgers, represented a dog (and got plenty of press for it, too!) who was convicted of malicious wounding back in the 1990s when I was trying to interest him in a “life interest” case for a human. Yeah, well…
Oh, and he got the conviction overturned on appeal. And the dog, who had been serving time in a prison (a human prison BTW), was freed after a couple of years. Yeah. Like that. Now I’m a dog lover and all but really…
At one time I had two dogs. They got into a fight over pizza and since I was in between I got bit. Not badly but since dog bites cause infection I decided to go to the doctor. The police showed up to interview me. They said there was a law requiring a police report of all cases of reported dog bite.
The attorney hired Ace Ventura to assist in the defense.
Jurors found [owners] Marjorie Knoller’s husband, Robert Noel, guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and found Knoller guilty of second-degree murder.
…
Either way, the Longs could be looking at liability under either a strict liability or negligence theory.
Dangerous animals are often seen as a risk to the neighborhood around them, but the liability hanging over the owner’s heads shows it is a very real risk to owners too.
Due process at work….
Very sad case. The owners should be liable for this serious attack no matter what the dog’s history was. I don’t think you want to go in front of a jury with the pictures of the injures if you are the owners.