Jury acquits Corbin men of dogfighting charges

Two Corbin men accused of organizing dogfights in the backyard of a southern Laurel County home were found not guilty by a jury in the Laurel Circuit Court Monday after only 30 minutes of deliberation.

The day-long trial, which concluded at about 9:00 p.m. seemed a cut-and-dry affair for defense attorneys who claimed all along their clients were victims of misunderstanding and inept police work.

Joe Lewis III and his friend Dalton Brewer, both 26, were both charged with animal cruelty last June after a neighbor called police to report that he had allegedly seen the two men baiting two dogs to fight in the backyard of Lewis’ mobile home.
One dog belonged to Lewis, a seven-and-a-half year old American Stratshire Bull Terrier and the other was a stray St. Bernard mix, officials say. The father of Lewis, Joe Lewis Jr., 61 of Bell County, was also at the residence that night and was also charged with animal cruelty. He was later indicted by a Laurel County grand jury, but prosecutors asked the charge be dropped.

At trial, Lewis and Brewer both maintained they are avid animal lovers who would never engage in dogfighting. They also argued that their physical disabilities would preclude from participating in such activity. Both men used canes, and Lewis even relied on a walker, to walk during the trial. Their physical conditions were a key point for their defense attorneys.
“I would absolutely never put a dog in a fight. I keep a picture of my dog, Crown by my bed,” Lewis said on the witness stand.
Brewer’s attorney, Jane Butcher of Williamsburg, agreed in closing arguments.

“These are people who sheltered their dogs, gave them food, water, shade, vet visits. You don’t just go out one evening and decide to become a dog fighter,” Butcher said.

Lewis claimed his injuries were the result of a car accident. Brewer was allegedly the victim of a savage attack by a former local police officer and his son during a 2007 altercation over a firearm. In a previous interview with the News Journal, Brewer said he suspects this case was brought against him in retaliation by the police in order to call his character into question.  
The alleged dogfighting incident happened around 1 a.m. on June 25 when deputies from the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department responded to the 911 call on 429 Adams Road in north Corbin, the home of Betty Dalton, Lewis’ maternal grandmother. She was asleep when police arrived. Also in the home that evening was Lewis’ 6-year-old son.
When Laurel County Deputies Richard Sapcut, Robert Mitchell and Jon Inman arrived at the scene they found “Crown” chained up with injuries and the stray St. Bernard mix under a neighbor’s porch also with injuries.

The deputies talked to a neighbor, Jeremy Looney, who had made the 911 call and obtained a written statement on what he had seen. Looney said he was alerted to the dogs fighting when he was lying on his couch trying to sleep and heard yelping. He then went to his kitchen window to see what was going on. He testified that he saw Lewis and Brewer in the backyard with a dog on a leash and Lewis’ dog, Crown, on its chain. Looney said the two would lead the dog up to Crown and let the two dogs fight, then when the animals were tired, would take the stray back and rest them for a few minutes and return the stray for a second round. After the second round, Looney said, they took the stray to a set of steps that were standing in a driveway separate from the residence and tied him up.

The defense argued that the view from Looney’s kitchen window wouldn’t have allowed him to see clearly what transpired and that also it was too dark that night for anyone to discern what was happening.

When the deputies first arrived they tried to knock on the door of the home where they found the chained dog, but no one answered the door. Around the back of the house, deputies said they found blood and bits of animal flesh on a tarp under a wading pool that were suspected to be from the two animals. During the trial, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Sergent presented to the jury photographs that showed the injuries to the animals. Included was a picture of blood droplets found on Brewer’s pants. Brewer said the droplets were most likely from trying to break up the fight and that he had not even noticed them before the police pointed them out.

“Undoubtedly, both dogs fought. The issue is, did these two men bring the dogs together to fight for personal amusement,” Lewis’ attorney Gary Crabtree said in closing arguments..

Lewis and Brewer testified that the stray had been seen in the neighborhood all day. And around 10:20 p.m. that same evening Lewis had received a call from Heather Looney, Looney’s wife, and told him that the stray was irritating Crown.

“We didn’t hear anything outside until we got the call from Heather,” Lewis Jr. said.

The two men then went outside to break the two animals up. They testified they did not see a lot of blood on the two animals and after running off the stray assumed Crown was fine and went back inside and did not even go back outside at all that evening.

After the deputies had looked around outside, they tried again to knock on the door and Lewis Jr. answered. The police testified they asked to enter the home and Lewis Jr. replied that it wasn’t his residence, but the officers could come in. But Lewis Jr. told a different story. He said Sapcut forced entry into the home by ordering him to allow police to enter and placing his hand on his firearm in a threatening manner.

Upon entering the home the officers reported seeing a firearm laying on an end table and decided to do a protective sweep of the home. The three men were placed in handcuffs until it was complete. Lewis said the firearm was not in plain sight, but rather wrapped in a towel and covered by a pillow.

Upon entering the home, the officer’s testified they inquired after what had happened to the dogs.

“They said they didn’t know what happened,” Deputy Mitchell said.

The prosecutor continually asked in the trial why someone in the home had not volunteered the information of the stray and breaking up the dogfight. Lewis and Brewer said they did not mention breaking up the fight because the officers didn’t ask, instead only accusing them of fighting dogs.

During the search officers found a card in a bathroom cabinet that listed names of dogs on one side and names of kennels on the other. This evidence, along with the witness testimony and the conditions of the animals found, led police to the conclusion that dog fighting was taking place. 

During the pretrial hearing in December, Crabtree, asked Judge John Knox Mills to exclude the evidence collected during the search because the officers did not obtain a search warrant before entering the home.

The notebook was possibly the most telling piece of evidence for the Commonwealth. Sapcut testified in the pre-trial hearing that it also contained what appeared to be a bracket of dog fighting matches. During the trial Monday, Lewis testified that his injuries sustained in an automobile accident caused him to have short term memory loss and that the list of names was actually name ideas for future dogs. He testified that he wanted to start breeding his female American Stratshire Bull Terrier, Royal, Crown’s sister, and eventually wanted to own a kennel, which explained the list of Kennel names on the back of the card.

The animals were removed that night from the property and taken to the Laurel County Animal Shelter after the scene was documented. Crown has not been allowed to return to Lewis since that night.

The defense attempted to cast doubt on the truthfulness of Looney’s testimony, inferring his wife had a relationship with Lewis. Phone records were presented to the jury showing numerous phone calls from Heather Looney to Lewis. Dalton testified that Mrs. Looney often visited her home in the evenings and that her children played with Lewis’ son. She also suspected Looney was attracted to her grandson.

“I witnessed her hugging him and kissing him on the cheek,” Dalton said.

Heather Looney did not testify at trial. Prosecutors said she could not be served with a subpoena to appear. When Looney made the 911 call he had wanted to remain anonymous, but was subpoenaed at Baptist Regional Medical Center where he works as a nurse. Looney denied there was any relationship between his wife and Lewis.

After the defense for Lewis finished presenting witnesses, the defense for Brewer called several character witnesses to the stand to testify about his nature and how he treated his animals.

Brewer’s first cousin, Angela Williamson, said Brewer has always raised and sold dogs. According to Brewer, the contract in which he used when selling his dogs had a clause about not fighting the dogs he sold.

“He has always had rabbits, cats ferrets, dogs; he has always been an animal lover,” Williamson said.
When the jury announced their decision, both men were relieved.

“I felt that justice was served. I want my dog back tonight,” Lewis said.

Croley said they knew they had a strong case with a lot of facts. “This was the only decision the jury could have come to,” Croley said. “This is a simple case of a rush to judgement by the Laurel County Sheriff’s department.”

Attorneys Paul Croley and Jane Butcher represented Brewer and Attorneys Gary Crabtree and Frank Newman represented Lewis at the trial. The commonwealth was represented by attorney Bryan Sergent.