By Citlalli Florez
MODESTO, CA – The accused had two different hearings this week in Stanislaus County Superior Court—one was a jury trial for felony animal cruelty and the use of a deadly weapon, a bucket.
The other was a violation of probation hearing, a misdemeanor.
On March 19, Rosco, a Schnauzer, was found dead by the accused’s now ex-girlfriend, who said she put Rosco outside on the porch with the understanding that the accused would be home in a couple hours.
She said she later received a phone call from the accused where he stated that he had “f***d up.”
The then-girlfriend said when she came home, the apartment was trashed with the accused passed out on the couch. Outside the front door of the couple’s apartment was a box containing the remains of their companion.
The officers testified Rosco was wrapped in a blue towel and aluminum foil. According to the prosecution’s introduction, there was blood splatter and bloody paw prints throughout the apartment and on the accused’s clothing.
A necropsy done on Rosco shows he died from blunt force trauma. He also had injuries in his head, abdomen and leg. The officers at the scene did not find it likely for the dog to have been hit by a car because of the evidence found in the apartment.
According to the defense opening, the accused’s ex-girlfriend was not at home during the incident and law enforcement doesn’t know what actually happened.
In a rebuttal against the accusation of a plastic bucket being used to cause blunt force trauma the DPD stated “prosecution alleges that my client used a plastic bucket, no real mass, no real weight to it, to cause that extent of injuries.”
The DPD also claims that there were no disputes during the day of the incident. She continued, “There are a whole lot of scenarios of how this dog was injured… there are a lot of issues with this case.”
She asked the jury to put aside their emotions and their emotional attachments to their companion animals and to look at the evidence instead. 
The first witness was Detective Jacob Hook who said he had received a call that a woman had arrived home to a deceased dog.
He said the accused was asleep on the couch when the officers arrived. The officers believed the accused to be under the influence. However, later on in the trial, the defense also revealed the accused worked the graveyard shift and had barely returned home that morning.
The accused was on probation during this time, and Detective Hook testified he arrived to a messy apartment with what appeared to be blood smeared on various surfaces.
The defense asked if it is possible for the blood to have been transferred and the detective confirmed that it is.
The detective said that he arrived at the apartment and noticed a cardboard box on the porch with a paw sticking out of it. When he opened the box, there was a dog wrapped in foil and a towel. Another officer on the scene took the animal out of the box.
After further observation, they identified the animal as a dog who had been assaulted and tortured. The dog allegedly had injuries on its paws, legs and mouth area. These injuries consisted of lacerations and bleeding. The dog was determined to be deceased at the scene.
When the detective and other officers arrived at the back patio, they found a broken black bucket with blood stains, he said. The blood on the bucket was not tested. However, it was also later revealed the accused’s ex-girlfriend would only use the bucket to clean the patio.
The officers could not find any neighbors who might be witnesses to the incident, the detective said.
The accused’s ex-girlfriend testified to having been in a relationship for four to five years before separating after the dog’s death. The dog was, she said, a puppy that they had obtained in early February. The dog was approximately a foot long when they had obtained him.
Rosco’s demeanor was allegedly calm and timid, the ex said, and he didn’t really bark or play with his toys. The dog also did not ever bite the witness, she said.
When asked what she was told over the phone by the accused, the witness said that he told her he could not find Rosco and that he had “f***ked up.” The accused did not say what he had meant by this. She speculated that the accused was intoxicated during the phone call.
When she got home, she said she noticed the apartment was messier than it used to be and that there were bloody footprints.
After not finding Rosco, she said she decided to go for a walk and call the dog’s name. When she returned, she saw the box near the front door. Allegedly thinking it was trash, she said she was going to throw it away, but when she grabbed the box, Rosco’s leg popped out.
The trial is set to resume this week.
