MI: Defendant testifies in dog fighting case

Defendant testifies in dog fighting case
Trace Christenson , Battle Creek Enquirer 5:46 p.m. ET April 28, 2017

Javaan James testified Friday he loved his five pit bulls and trained them to show, not fight.

James, 27, of Battle Creek is charged with four counts of possession of dogs for fighting and one count of possessing equipment to train dogs for fighting.

"I go to dog shows," James told his attorney J. Thomas Schaeffer Friday afternoon. "I have loved dogs since I was 6 or 7. I was just a pit bull lover."

James faces up to eight years in prison if convicted on all charges. He was the last witness in his four-day trial before Schaeffer and Assistant Calhoun County Prosecutor Karen Pawloski gave final arguments to the jury of seven men and five woman who deliberated an hour before leaving for the weekend. Circuit Judge Sarah Lincoln told jurors to return Monday to continue considering the charges.

James was arrested July 13 after Battle Creek police raided his home at 168 Battle Creek Ave. looking for illegal drugs and found five pit bull terriers staked with heavy chains in the backyard. Two of the dogs had fresh injuries and police said that, along with some equipment found at the home, show James was training the dogs for fighting.

But he said Friday he trains the dogs to show and does not take them to fights or allow others to use his dogs for fighting.

"I love playing with my dogs," he said. "I have never sat up and fought a dog. I don't get fighting dogs."

He said he has never been to a dog fight and never produced dogs for fighting.

An expert from the Humane Society of the United States said items like treadmills, flirt poles, heavy chains and harnesses are designed to improve the endurance and strength of dogs for fighting and injuries to the face and front legs of dogs are an indication of fighting.

But a defense expert, Dennis Norrod who raises pit bulls, said those same items are only to train the dogs to compete in weight pulling, running and climbing and to keep the dogs from running away.

Pawloski told the jury the case is not anti-dog or anti-pit bull but anti-dog fighting.

She said the jury should consider all the evidence presented and she noted that three of the dogs were euthanized after they were seized because they were so aggressive toward other animals.

"These dogs were not able to be rewired," she said. "If you put it all together it is dog fighting."

Schaeffer said nothing presented showed James was involved in dog fighting. He said the prosecution expert, Janette Reever, merely presented theories.

"There is great speculation and theory but is there any evidence of it?" Schaeffer asked. "He bubbles when he talks about his dogs. He thinks they are prized dogs. This is a good guy who trains dogs for shows."

Javaan James explains some of the awards he won showing pitbulls during questioning by his attorney, J. Thomas Schaeffer. (Photo: Trace Christenson/The Enquirer)

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/...endant-testifies-dog-fighting-case/101023638/

 

James found guilty in dog-fighting case
Trace Christenson , Battle Creek Enquirer Published 6:13 p.m. ET

Javaan James lost his trial and his freedom Monday.

James, 27, of Battle Creek was found guilty of two counts of possession of dogs for fighting and one count of possession of equipment for fighting dogs. The jury found him not guilty of two counts of possession of dogs for fighting. A charge of animal cruelty was dismissed during the trial when the judge ruled there was not enough evidence to support it.

A Calhoun County Circuit Court jury of seven men and five women deliberated about 5½ hours beginning Friday before reaching verdicts Monday afternoon.

James faces up to eight years in prison because of prior convictions on unrelated charges and will be sentenced by Judge Sarah Lincoln on June 16.

But until then James will be in the Calhoun County jail. He had been free on bond, but after the jury verdict Lincoln said she was revoking bond because James was arrested Feb. 17 on charges of possession of cocaine.

As deputies approached to take him into custody James continued to cry out, "Can I see my son, please. Can't I see my son? This is ridiculous. I can't see my son.

"This is crap, I didn't do nothing to my dogs. This is bull----."

James was arrested on the dog-fighting charges on July 13 when Battle Creek police served a search warrant at his home at 168 Battle Creek Ave. Police were looking for drugs but found five pit bull terriers in the back yard along with several items that they and prosecutors said were used to train dogs for fighting.


During the trial last week Animal Control Officers and an expert from the Humane Society of the United States testified that the dogs showed injuries consistent with dog fighting and that items like heavy harnesses and log chains and a treadmill were used to condition the dogs for fighting.

James testified all the items were used to condition the dogs, but not for fighting. He said they were being trained for competition at shows that tested the strength and stamina of the dogs.

He said two dogs found the day of the raid showed recent injuries because they had fought each other the night before when one escaped from its chain.

Assistant Prosecutor Karen Pawloski argued all the signs were that the dogs were trained to fight, but defense attorney J. Thomas Schaeffer countered that prosecutors had not presented any evidence that James was fighting his dogs.

Jurors left the courthouse after declining to speak with the Enquirer, but both Pawloski and Schaeffer said they believed they jurors voted to convict James based on the wounds of the two dogs and found James innocent of two other charges because the dogs didn't show recent injuries.

Schaeffer said the jurors couldn't know how to decide on each specific count because the dogs were not named in the charges.

Afterwards Schaeffer said his reaction to the verdicts "is very similar to what my client said."

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/.../01/james-guilty-dog-fighting-case/101173258/

 

They couldn't find any coc when they raided so they pinned fighting charges on him? smh.. With AGK here, the system is a complete failure.

 

That's what got me too, no evidence! I'm telling you, they got mad when they didn't find enough coc to put him away so they used the dogs instead. I would deff appeal that and would request another judge, i think it states somewhere that the judge was a member of HSUS.