AR-News: (CA - US) Sergeant cleared in shooting death of Labrador

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Sergeant cleared in death of dog 


By SUSAN HERENDEEN
BEE STAFF WRITER


Last Updated: February 14, 2004, 07:45:46 AM PST


Stanislaus County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Radford had good reason to kill a lunging Labrador retriever during a stop at a south Modesto trailer park, a jury decided.
And the dog's owner does not need $200,000 to compensate for the loss of her pet. That was the verdict that an eight-person jury came to Wednesday after a three-day civil trial in U.S. District Court in Fresno.

"That was like watching him shoot my child," said Sue Gardner, owner of the Lab named Dumpster.

She noted that Dumpster, the day of the shooting, was tethered to a thick rope and could not have advanced much farther.

But attorney Dan Farrar of Turlock said the outcome was never in doubt.

"When Sergeant Radford shot the dog, he was on the outside edge of the sidewalk and the dog's head was within six inches of his crotch," he said. "A dog bite from a leashed dog feels the same as a dog bite from an unleashed dog."

Radford went to the Modern Trailer Park one night in June 2002 to check into a reported domestic disturbance. He was confronted with the barking dog, pulled out his gun, and fired one shot.

Gardner said Radford could have used pepper spray instead, and a number of neighbors testified in her defense.

Her lawyer said Radford violated Gardner's constitutional rights by shooting the dog, which amounted to an unreasonable seizure of her property.

But the jury agreed unanimously that Radford's conduct was reasonable.

"It's his word against mine," Gardner said. "They believed him."

Bee staff writer Susan Herendeen can be reached at 578-2338 or sherendeen at modbee.com.