HankT
State Researcher
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OCing jogging copkills dog. Self-defense or execution?
Dog Shooting Cop Pleads Self Defense
Thursday, 14 of June , 2007
HAGUE—Poklemba and Hobbs, the law firm of part-time Glens Falls city court judge Gary C. Hobbs, is representing the Suffolk County cop criminally charged for shooting a dog on May 27 in the Town of Hague.
John J. Sheehan, 36, of Hauppauge, Long Island, appeared in Hague Town Court Thursday, arriving late for his arraignment on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, illegally discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and across a highway.
The case has been adjourned until Aug. 2.
Although Sheehan shot the dog with a .38 caliber pistol on May 27 on Summit Drive where he also maintains a summer residence,the Warren County Sheriff’s Department did not lodge charges against the police officer until Thursday after Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland announced Tuesday he had “decided” to charge him.
When the incident first became public on June 4, Cleveland said he had asked the Warren County District Attorney’s office to determine if charges were warranted. There has been a public outcry expressing concerns about Sheehan since the shooting.
Sheehan is charged with shooting Zeus, a two year old boxer while his owner and a child watched. The dog was seriously injured by a gunshot to the head and had to be euthanized.
Sheehan was wearing a holstered handgun while he was allegedly jogging past the home of the Coon family and claims the dog came at him. It has been reported that Sheehan says that the dog had harassed his girlfriend the day previous. Witnesses say that he was testing the gun at his residence earlier in the day and then allegedly deliberately went to area of the Coon residence to bait the dog, shooting it when the dog left its owner’s property, Sheehan allegedly put his gun and shot it, claiming self defense.
Police said deadly force was unwarranted and they had been unable to establish that the dog was attacking Sheehan as he has claimed.
This is the third time since 2001 that Sheehan or his father, a retired police officer, have shot a dog in the residential area of Route 8 in Hague in northern Warren County. Sheehan shot and killed another dog on Summit Drive in July 2005. He wasn’t charged in that incident, also citing self defense. When Sheehan’s father shot a dog on his son’s property, he escaped charges too.
If convicted, Sheehan faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine on the animal cruelty charge, and three months each plus a $200 fine on each of the firearms charges. 6-14-07
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/news/2007/06/14/cop_shooter/
OCing jogging copkills dog. Self-defense or execution?
Dog Shooting Cop Pleads Self Defense
Thursday, 14 of June , 2007
HAGUE—Poklemba and Hobbs, the law firm of part-time Glens Falls city court judge Gary C. Hobbs, is representing the Suffolk County cop criminally charged for shooting a dog on May 27 in the Town of Hague.
John J. Sheehan, 36, of Hauppauge, Long Island, appeared in Hague Town Court Thursday, arriving late for his arraignment on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, illegally discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and across a highway.
The case has been adjourned until Aug. 2.
Although Sheehan shot the dog with a .38 caliber pistol on May 27 on Summit Drive where he also maintains a summer residence,the Warren County Sheriff’s Department did not lodge charges against the police officer until Thursday after Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland announced Tuesday he had “decided” to charge him.
When the incident first became public on June 4, Cleveland said he had asked the Warren County District Attorney’s office to determine if charges were warranted. There has been a public outcry expressing concerns about Sheehan since the shooting.
Sheehan is charged with shooting Zeus, a two year old boxer while his owner and a child watched. The dog was seriously injured by a gunshot to the head and had to be euthanized.
Sheehan was wearing a holstered handgun while he was allegedly jogging past the home of the Coon family and claims the dog came at him. It has been reported that Sheehan says that the dog had harassed his girlfriend the day previous. Witnesses say that he was testing the gun at his residence earlier in the day and then allegedly deliberately went to area of the Coon residence to bait the dog, shooting it when the dog left its owner’s property, Sheehan allegedly put his gun and shot it, claiming self defense.
Police said deadly force was unwarranted and they had been unable to establish that the dog was attacking Sheehan as he has claimed.
This is the third time since 2001 that Sheehan or his father, a retired police officer, have shot a dog in the residential area of Route 8 in Hague in northern Warren County. Sheehan shot and killed another dog on Summit Drive in July 2005. He wasn’t charged in that incident, also citing self defense. When Sheehan’s father shot a dog on his son’s property, he escaped charges too.
If convicted, Sheehan faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine on the animal cruelty charge, and three months each plus a $200 fine on each of the firearms charges. 6-14-07
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/news/2007/06/14/cop_shooter/
