Tarpon Springs man found not guilty of animal cruelty in shooting death of dog
Jurors found a Tarpon Springs man not guilty of animal cruelty late Tuesday after he shot and killed a mixed-breed pit bull he said attacked him and his dog while they were out on a walk.
On Jan. 1, 2021, Harry Lee and his German Shepherd puppy, Ari, were walking on private property owned by one of Lee’s friends in the Tarpon Springs area. While out, they encountered Henry Passerini, who was walking his 6-year-old pit bull mix dog, Chester. Passerini was not holding Chester’s leash, allowing him to roam freely.
In court Tuesday, jurors were tasked with figuring out what happened next.
Passerini said Chester approached Ari and began sniffing. The puppy got frightened and Lee called for Passerini to come get Chester, threatening to shoot the pit bull mix. Passerini said he ran over and knelt down next to his dog just as Lee pulled the trigger.
“My dog was just standing there, looking at his dog,” Passerini, now 64, said in court. He said he never saw his dog snapping at Lee.
But Lee told jurors a different story.
He said Chester attacked him and his puppy, biting the puppy’s paw, chomping at Lee’s groin and leaving holes in his shirt. And he said Passerini failed to intervene.
“At that point I didn’t have an option. It was either shoot the dog or get bit,” Lee, now 61, said.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident, but did not arrest Lee. A deputy who responded to the incident told jurors he observed puncture wounds on Lee’s puppy’s paw.
Typically, criminal charges are filed after law enforcement refers a case to the state attorney’s office for prosecution. However, according to court documents, deputies did not refer the shooting for prosecution after their investigation.
Lee was charged with one count of animal cruelty after Passerini contacted the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office, according to court documents. Prosecutors later filed the charge.
Lee moved to get the case dismissed, arguing that it fell under Florida’s stand your ground law, which prevents people from being prosecuted if they kill someone to defend their life or protect themselves from “great bodily harm.”
A county judge and the 2nd District Court of Appeal sided with prosecutors, saying the stand your ground law did not apply to animals, and the case went to trial this week.
It took jurors about two hours to reach a verdict late Tuesday night. A first-degree misdemeanor animal cruelty charge can carry a penalty ranging from a fine to 364 days in the county jail. Prosecutors had made an offer of probation before the case went to trial.
“We are proud of how we presented the evidence, fought the case and gave voice to the dog who was killed,” assistant state attorney Alec Waid said. “We understand that the jury simply saw things differently.”
Passerini said the outcome was “disappointing.”
“It was a tragic thing that could’ve been avoided,” he said.
Lee declined to comment. His defense attorney, Ricardo Rivera, said law enforcement didn’t find any wrongdoing in the case and that the verdict also vindicated his client.
“This case was never about animal cruelty, it was about self-defense,” Rivera said in a statement. “Mr. Lee and his puppy were attacked by a 110 lbs. dog. Mr. Lee was left with the choice of allowing himself to be mauled or protecting himself.”
