DogsBite Blog ::

dog bite statistics

Tuesday, November 3, 2009


Tennessee 'Loose' Dog Attack Law: Pit Bull Owner Charged with Aggravated Assault


From left: Helen Marshall, Skye, Andre Robinson and unnamed judge.

Judge Strips Bond
11/03/09 UPDATE: The anticipated Wednesday court hearing regarding Andre Robinson's half million-dollar bond was pushed forward to Tuesday so that the victim, 62-year old Helen Marshall, could be heard at the hearing. WREG TV video captures the terrified victim as she enters and leaves the courtroom, where she had to face pit bull owner Andre Robinson, who has a felony record of robbery and burglary, as well as multiple prior complaints against his vicious dogs.

The judge, who is unnamed in the article, essentially evacuated the half million-dollar bond by dropping it to $50,000. It seems the point of the high bond was to keep this potentially dangerous man behind bars, unable to harm someone else or to "suddenly move," as he did following the incidents with his dogs in Horn Lake, Mississippi. Now, along with dreams of vicious pit bulls "crushing" her bones, Marshall has the added fear of Robinson back in the neighborhood.

11/03/09: Held on Half Million Dollar Bond
Cordova, TN - On Saturday, Shelby County sheriff's deputies arrested the owner of three pit bulls that attacked and injured a Cordova woman and her dog two days earlier, charging him with Aggravated Assault. Andre Robinson, 33, is now being held at the Shelby County Jail on a $500,000 bond. Robinson's dogs attacked Helen Marshall, 62, on Thursday, October 22, as she walked her son's Husky, named Skye, past Robinson's house in the 8600 block of Oak Trail Lane.
This is the first instance of an Aggravated Assault charge -- that does not involve the dog's owner "siccing" his dog on a person -- DogsBite.org has recorded.
Doctors at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis told sheriff's detectives Marshall was bitten more than 50 times on her arms, legs and forearms. She is now recovering at home. Her dog Skye also suffered many wounds and lacerations. According to sheriff's office spokesman Steve Shular, the steep bond was set because of the extensive injuries to Marshall. It was likely also set this high due to past infractions by Robinson and his dogs and new Tennessee State dog law.1.

Zero Tolerance for Dog Attacks

On the same day the above article was published by the Commercial Appeal, an editorial was published by them as well, "Zero Tolerance for Dog Attacks." The editorial outlines the new Tennessee "loose" dog law that was passed in 2007 (See: 44-8-408 or view PDF). Unsurprisingly, the law provides numerous exceptions for owners of loose dogs, for instance "temporary harborers" are excluded2, but due to Robinson's history of not properly restraining his dogs, he is not excluded.

We presume that Robinson is being charged with a Class E felony, which according to the editorial is punishable by one to six years in prison and a $3,000 fine. Under the same statue, if a loose dog kills a person (off the dog owner's property), a Class D felony applies, which is punishable by two to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. If the dog has been trained to fight or has previously inflicted serious injury or death upon a person3, the penalties worsen.

The editorial also mentions the horrific -- and preventable -- 1990 death of 57-year old Betty Lou Stidham and the lowly sentence her neighbor, Edwin Hill4, served after his two pit bulls first mauled Hill's own wheelchair-bound mother, in a subsequent attack, tore the leg off Stidham's pet pug, then 6-months later killed Stidham as she walked away from her mailbox. Hill was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and served five months of a two-year sentence.

Related ZUPF video

1In addition to Robinson's pit bulls running loose and attacking pets in his current neighborhood, his former neighbors in Horn Lake, Mississippi filed similar complaints against him. He moved from that location prior to being taken to court.
2Serious and fatal dog attacks frequently occur when the dog is in the hands of a "temporary harborer."
3As in other U.S. states, after a dog kills a person, the State of Tennessee does not mandate the euthanization of the animal.
4Edwin G. Hill, a former Memphis police officer, apparently "sobbed on the witness stand" at his sentencing hearing.

Related articles:
11/14/08: Falls Pit Bull Owner Pleads Guilty to Aggravated Assault
01/12/08: Family Hopes Vigil for Jennifer Lowe Brings Change, Stonger Laws
11/15/07: 2007 Fatality: Jennifer Lowe, Killed by Two Pit Bulls, No Charges Filed

Labels:


posted by bitbypit  |  permalink  |  11 comments  |iconemail  |iconsubscribe 
« View Older Posts      View Newer Posts »

11 comments:

Blogger cravendesires  |  11/03/2009 3:20 PM  |  Flag  
horn lake, mississippi.
that's julz perry territory!!!!!!!

you made my day!

Anonymous Anonymous  |  11/03/2009 4:57 PM  |  Flag  
Funny how the pit nutters only ever cry when it's their own butts on the line. They don't give a flying crap about the victims of their dogs. I hope they throw the book at him and the maulers get put down.

Anonymous Anonymous  |  11/04/2009 4:41 PM  |  Flag  
Who bred and sold these recidivist maulers down in Horn Lake?

Anonymous bluesmom  |  11/04/2009 6:18 PM  |  Flag  
Additional evidence that a change of address does not improve the disposition of dogs, or the level of responsibility of the owner.

Anonymous Trigger  |  11/05/2009 1:03 PM  |  Flag  
Judge Lee Coffee signed the $500,000 bond (you can see his signature in one of the videos):

Lee V. Coffee
Judge
Criminal Court
Division VII
Memphis, Tennessee

It appears that judge Carolyn Wade Blackett is the one that stripped the bond amount (as she is the only female criminal judge listed for Shelby County):

Carolyn Wade Blackett
Judge
Criminal Court
Division IV
Memphis, Tennessee
---
http://co4.shelbycountytn.gov/court_clerks/criminal_court/judges.htm

Anonymous Trigger  |  11/05/2009 9:25 PM  |  Flag  
Robinson is officially back in the neighborhood. Looks like his pits will be put down:

"Andre Robinson was washing his car in his driveway this afternoon. He wouldn't talk to us on camera but said he loved his dogs and took good care of them. He was sad to never see his pit bulls again. They're being put down..."
---
http://tinyurl.com/ykdgf4f

Anonymous Anonymous  |  11/06/2009 2:29 AM  |  Flag  
Was Andre a breeder?

Anonymous Anonymous  |  11/06/2009 2:39 AM  |  Flag  
You mean was he a "backyard breeder?" Well of course he was.

"Horn Lake resident David Payne says he called the police several times last year after Robinson's dogs chewed through his fence and attacked his dogs. Payne says Robinson and his wife owned four adult pit bulls and nine puppies when they lived next to him in the 3800 block of Southbrook."
---
http://tinyurl.com/y9e636d

Anonymous MamaDog  |  11/10/2009 11:59 AM  |  Flag  
Recently, pit bull-mix owner Anna Bolton raised a big stink after officers shot her dog. Controversy in the local papers followed. It has now been reported that a Memphis police office shot a pit bull after it bit him in the groin area while searching for a "wanted" person. I hope everyone here understands what a pit bull bite to the groin area means.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/nov/10/police-report/

Anonymous Trigger  |  11/10/2009 10:35 PM  |  Flag  
In addition to the police shooting incidents, there is a major scandal unfolding at the Memphis City Shelter. I believe Alexander has been fired at this point:

"Records also show the former director, Ernie Alexander, was not enforcing the city's vicious dog ordinance. According to advisory board minutes, Alexander says he was told not to force pet owners to pay the $2000 bond that is required to be posted when a dog is declared vicious. In the transcripts, Alexander says that order came from someone in the Herenton administration."
---
http://tinyurl.com/yjvruhn

Anonymous Anonymous  |  11/17/2009 5:18 AM  |  Flag  
Insurbordinate, radacalized A/C workers are a huge part of the Pit problem...The nutters know it is open mauling season when they have one at A/C.

Post a Comment »

archives: