Maryland's top medical examiner is prepared to testify on behalf of a Baltimore police officer facing criminal charges for slitting a dog's throat, after reviewing evidence and determining the dog was already dead when the cutting occurred.
Officer Jeffrey Bolger's case is scheduled for trial Thursday after he pleaded not guilty to two counts of animal mutilation, one of animal cruelty and one of misconduct in office. He is accused of killing the dog, a Shar-Pei named Nala, in June even though the animal had been brought under control with a dog pole.
Attorneys for Bolger have filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing the determination from David R. Fowler, Maryland's chief medical examiner. The attorneys also contend that evidence has been lost and that prosecutors did not follow procedure when filing the charges.
Bolger's attorneys argued in September that officers on the scene did not have proper equipment to sedate the dog or place it into an animal carrier, and are authorized to euthanize a dog.
"He used his knife in a fashion intended to cause the dog the least amount of pain and place the public in the least amount of danger," they said.
But in their latest motion, the lawyers say they have two nonpolice witnesses who say the dog was "lifeless for approximately five minutes while on the dog pole" and that two police witnesses will testify that the dog "appeared to have strangulated itself prior to the dog pole being removed."
"Agent Bolger could not be certain whether the dog had died or was dying and unconscious after it was removed from the dog pole," attorneys Steven H. Levin and Charles N. Curlett Jr. wrote. "Consequently, in the event that it was still alive, Agent Bolger wanted to end its suffering."
The attorneys say Fowler will testify for the defense that the lack of blood where the cutting occurred shows that the dog's heart had already stopped beating.
"In other words, Agent Bolger did not kill the stray dog," the attorneys wrote.
Fowler's conclusion contrasts with the findings of a necropsy performed by a doctor working for the city's animal control. She determined that a cut to an artery caused the dog's death. Bolger's attorneys say her conclusion is "impossible to draw" because the dog's head was removed before the evaluation.
Fowler confirmed that he had consulted with the defense. The medical examiner's office performs autopsies and other forensic investigations, and Fowler said it has occasionally done work involving animals.
Bolger's attorneys also say the dog pole used in the case was not preserved by police, and the dog's collar and tag are missing.
Nala got loose from her home in Canton after slipping through a gate her owner, Sarah Gossard, did not realize had been left open. The dog wandered into Brewers Hill, where police said a woman tried to stop the dog and find its home. Police say the dog bit the woman, though she described it as a minor "nip."
A witness reported hearing Bolger say, "I'm going to [expletive] gut this thing," according to a police report. A second officer, Thomas Schmidt, is also charged in the case and accused of holding the dog down while its throat was cut.
The mayor and top police officials denounced the officers.