Court reverses convictions in dog case

One of the man’s dogs attacked a retired city firefighter last year.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — An appellate court has determined that the city’s vicious dog ordinance does not define Cane Corso as “vicious” and reversed Jammie Traylor’s convictions for owning or harboring two vicious dogs.

In May 2006, a municipal court jury found Traylor, 21, of Youngstown, guilty of two misdemeanors. The dogs he owned were Cane Corsos, an Italian mastiff breed.

He was represented by Struthers attorney James E. Lanzo. Lanzo said Monday that he’s sure his client is happy to put the case behind him.

In June 2007, Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly sentenced Traylor to 90 days in jail, fined him $750 and placed him on two years’ probation. He was in jail from June 15, 2007, until released pending appeal on June 21, 2007, the jail said.

Three judges from the 7th District Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, said the city ordinance did not provide Traylor, or other dog owners, with a meaningful opportunity to challenge the labeling of dogs as vicious.

In his appeal, Traylor’s lawyer had argued that the ordinance violated his client’s right to due process.

The General Assembly has classified pit bull dogs as vicious. Traylor’s case did not involve pit bulls and the city’s vicious dog ordinance does not contain a classification of Cane Corso as vicious, the appellate judges said in their decision.

Judges ruling on Traylor’s case were Mary DeGenaro, Joseph J. Vukovich and Cheryl L. Waite.

Traylor and City Prosecutor Jay Macejko could not be reached.

Lanzo said the judges didn’t go as far as to say the ordinance is unconstitutional.

The ordinance, he said, does not allow for due process as does the separate ordinance that deals with pit bulls. That ordinance requires owners to have liability insurance and protective pens.

Lanzo said the only way a person would know if they had a vicious dog, if not a pit bull, would be at the time the animal bit someone. He pointed out that even small dogs, such as Chihuahuas, can bite.

At Traylor’s trial last year, jurors heard testimony from Maureen A. Cronin, a retired Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge who aided David Roch after he was bitten near her home April 18, 2007. Roch, a retired city firefighter, also testified, telling jurors how he was attacked after trying to protect Maggy, his small terrier. Roch had been out walking his dog on a leash near Mill Creek Park when two massive Cane Corsos approached.

Cronin, contacted on Monday, said she was saddened by the ruling, but she does understand the decision.

Cronin has not read the appellate court decision but said, having been a judge and a lawyer, she understands that wording in law must be concrete. She said she hopes city council and other city officials will come up with a concrete law that applies to all dog owners and all types of dogs.

Cronin said dog owners who allow their pets to roam unleashed should be fined, but those with dogs that attack while unleashed should face stiffer penalties.

Roch said in court that he was trying to make it to Cronin’s deck when one of the big dogs grabbed onto the side of his left hand after he lifted Maggy up to protect her. He removed a brace to show jurors his injuries and explained that he had two surgeries to repair disconnected tendons.

He said Maggy, too, was injured and required surgery. He said she was bitten on the ear, head and rear.

Roch said he fell to the ground and let go of Maggy after being bitten near Cronin’s backyard.

A Mill Creek MetroParks police officer used a shotgun to kill one dog behind Cronin’s house on Canfield Road. The second dog ran near Kiawatha Drive and was shot and killed by a city patrolman.