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Jonnie England <jonnieengland wrote: www.ReadLarryPowell.com September 26, 2007 THE SADDEST STORY: And now we come

to the felony animal cruelty trial of Deshann Quattrail Brown, 23, a young man with an armed robbery conviction in Michigan and a courtroom full of trouble in Dallas. That is a sad enough state for a young life. But it gets even worse: This is the guy who is accused of fatally injuring Mercy the Pit Bull by pouring gasoline on her and setting her ablaze. He also is accused of stabbing her. All of this, according to the tapestry being woven by prosecutors, because the 18-month-old dog refused to breed. Tuesday saw the first day of testimony -- it took all day Monday to pick the jury. And on Tuesday, as the state presented its case, the gallery was filled with people from assorted animal rescue groups, the defendant's mother and her pastor, reporters and curious courthouse personnel slipping in and out to watch the proceedings. Unless they were testifying, the witnesses were not allowed in the courtroom -- the "rule," as it's called, prohibits them from being within earshot of other

witnesses' testimony. On Tuesday morning, a young man testified that in the evening of April 13 he was walking his Chihuahua when a dog that was on fire ran past. He chased the dog, took off his shirt and smothered the flames. Two guys who were on a nearby parking lot tried to help extinguish the flames by pouring beer on the dog. One of the guys called the police. Meanwhile, testimony was that the defendant came walking up, rolling a bicycle with one hand, and carrying a can of gasoline in the other. At some point during that episode the authorities returned the dog to Mr. Brown. Also on Tuesday, two veterinarians testified as to the severity of the dog's injuries -- and that the severe burns were on the underside of the dog (leading one to surmise that the dog was on her back when she was doused with the flammable liquid). The vets also testified the dog was docile, as did the man who saw the dog wandering on the Carrollton apartment property the next day -- the man who took the burned dog to Operation Kindness. The prosecution's last witness of the day was a 17-year-old fellow who, it was expected, would testify as to what he told officers in a sworn statement. But, something happened. While the young man's testimony was firm on paper, it began to melt while he was on the hot seat of the witness stand. Suddenly, he could remember little about the day the dog was attacked. This led the prosecution to take the relatively unusual step of asking that its own witness be declared a hostile witness. The jury has heard only the reading of the statement -- in it the young man swore Mr. Brown (left) stabbed the dog.) When court recessed Tuesday afternoon, that young man was on the stand and, unless something unexpected has occurred overnight, he'll be on the stand Wednesday morning to be cross-examined by Mr. Brown's attorney, Dan Wyde, in a hearing to determine whether the young man's vivid grand jury testimony can be admitted as evidence -- he has trouble recalling things, but the state happens to have his investigative statements and grand jury testimony on paper. What gets in before the jury will be determined by the judge. Wednesday morning's cross examination will be out of the hearing of the general public (but not

the press) because the young man is, by virtue of being a juvenile, a virtual ward of the court and it is the court's duty to protect his rights. (Part of Tuesday's tension involved Mr. Wyde's objections to the way Judge Michael Snipes was running the trial in Criminal District Court No. 7. Mr. Wyde is a former judge. Most objections were overruled and at least two requests for a mistrial were denied by Judge Snipes.) Just FYI: the prosecution uses the name "Mercy' for the dog -- it's the name her caretakers gave her as she was being treated under the auspices of Operation Kindness. Defense attorney Wyde refers to the dog as "Brandy," the name given to the dog by Mr. Brown and his girlfriend. Tuesday's activities included getting jurors to observe large photos of the burns and wounds the dog had suffered. And the jurors were exposed to the tedium of question after question that

must be entered into the record to demonstrate that a crime had occurred, etc. All of the testimony Tuesday showed that a dog was burned, stabbed and died from the assault. Obviously, the dog didn't do this to herself -- though there is an indication that the defense may try to prove that either the dog pulled a barbecue grill over onto herself or that someone else did the deed. Tuesday's events proved, once again, that the most difficult job in a courtroom is that of "juror." The Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/092607dnmetmercy.2e22b65.html Witness in animal cruelty trial testifies of helping burning 'Mercy' 12:28 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 26,

2007 By TIARA M. ELLIS / tellis Operation Kindness/FILE 2006 Mercy, a pit-bull mix, died shortly after a plasma transfusion at a veterinary clinic

where she was receiving treatment for her injuries Willie Cantu had just finished work one day last year and was out walking his Chihuahua when he heard the painful wails of another dog. "I hear a yelp, like a really loud bark," Mr. Cantu said Tuesday as he testified on the first day of the animal cruelty trial of Deshawn Brown. "Then I see an engulfed flame going down the street." Mr. Cantu said he and two other men cornered the burning dog, who became known as Mercy, and while Mr. Cantu used his shirt to smother the flames, the other two men poured beer

on the animal. "I had singed hair all over me, like charcoal and ash," Mr. Cantu testified. "The smell was really intense – singed smell of hair, gasoline and burned skin." Mercy, who was also stabbed, died 10 days later. Mr. Brown, 22, is charged with animal cruelty and faces up to 10 years in prison. In July, Mr. Brown rejected a plea deal for an eight-year sentence. His attorney, Dan Wyde, said Tuesday that his client is innocent. "Not one witness is going to come forward and say they saw Mr. Brown hurt this dog," Mr. Wyde told the jury.

But prosecutor David Alex said Mr. Brown was angry because he was being evicted from his North Dallas apartment, and his dog – whom he named Brandy – wouldn't breed. "This case is serious, because when a person stares into the face of unconditional love, and in response to that douses their pet with a flammable liquid and ignites it on fire, these are actions of torture; sadistic acts of torture," Mr. Alex told the jury during his opening statement. In April 2006, said Forrest Pyle, 17, he was hanging out with Mr. Brown at the apartment complex. He grudgingly described seeing Mr.

Brown take Mercy behind a trash bin with a knife in hand, hearing the dog yelp, and then watching her scurry into view. "He came out and threw the knife down," Mr. Pyle said of Mr. Brown. "I never really seen him hurt the dog. I just seen the dog and seen the knife." After Mr. Cantu and the other men aided the dog, police arrived and allowed Mr. Brown – who showed up on his bike carrying a gasoline can – to keep the dog with the assurance that he'd seek medical attention for her, Mr. Alex said. The next day, Austin Holt, a resident in the same apartment complex, noticed the dog running outside his patio window. Initially, Mr. Holt said, he did not know what

was wrong with the animal. He attempted to give her water and food but she would not take it. Mr. Holt said he thought she might have mange and was afraid to touch her. So he and a friend took her to Operation Kindness, a no-kill shelter in Carrollton. In court Tuesday, two veterinarians testified for the prosecution, using grisly photographs to help describe how Mercy was burned over 60 percent of her body and to show her two puncture wounds. Mr. Wyde, however, contended that the prosecution's case is weak. He said some of the witnesses should not be believed because they were influenced to

come forward by reward money. In addition, Mr. Wyde said, other potential suspects were ignored by police. Sandra Brown, Mr. Brown's mother, would not talk about her son's case Tuesday. But she issued a written statement declaring that he would never torture or kill his own dog. She described how he cared for several pets, including two other dogs, two cats and a snake. "My son lived in an apartment and would call me and ask if he could bring his dogs over to run around my back yard because they have been in the apartment all day," Ms. Brown said.

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