Nature of the Case
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Facts
James Soto, then aged two years and eight months, was killed by a pit bull dog named 'Willy' owned by D. The animal was tethered near D's house but no obstacle prevented access to the dog's area. The victim and his family lived in a house which stood on the same lot, sharing a common driveway. The Soto family had four young children, then aged ten, four and one-half, two and one-half, and one year. The mother left the child playing on the patio of their home for a minute or so while she went into the house, and when she came out, the child was gone. She was looking for him when within some three to five minutes her brother-in-law, Richard Soto, called her and said D's dog had attacked James. The father had come upon the dog mauling his son. He screamed for D to come get the dog off the child; D did so. The child was bleeding profusely. Although an on-call volunteer fireman with paramedical training who lived nearby arrived within minutes and attempted to resuscitate the child, James died before an emergency crew arrived at the scene. There was no evidence that Willy had ever before attacked a human being, but there was considerable evidence that he was bred and trained to be a fighting dog and that he posed a known threat to people. D bought Willy from a breeder of fighting dogs, who informed D of the dog's fighting abilities, his gameness, wind, and exceptionally hard bite. The breeder told D that in a dogfight 'a dog won't go an hour with Willy and live.' The police found many underground publications about dogfighting at D's home. Willy's breeder described Willy as having an exceptionally hard bite. Two women who knew defendant testified he told them he had raised dogs for fighting purposes and had fought pit bulls. Richard Soto testified D told him he used the treadmill to increase the strength and endurance of his dogs. D said to others that he would not fight his dogs for less than $500 and he told Richard Willy had had matches as far away as South Carolina. D told the mother not to be concerned about the dogs, that they would not bother her children, except for 'one that he had on the side of the house' which was behind a six-foot fence. D said this dangerous dog was Willy but that she need not be concerned since he was behind a fence. The police found 243 marijuana plants growing behind D's house. Willy was tethered so anyone wanting to approach the plants would have to cross the area the dog could reach. That area was readily accessible to anyone. An animal control officer qualified as an expert testified about the breed as being aggressive. D's counsel placed great emphasis on the fact that Willy's attack on James was completely unpredictable. The court ruled that there was probable cause for trial and ordered D held over. D appealed seeking a dismissal of the indictment on murder charges.
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