The attorney for a University of Akron student accused of killing his roommate’s kitten is asking that the case be dismissed.
Matthew McCullough was the first person in Summit County charged under Dick Goddard’s law, which went into effect in September and made harming a companion animal a felony.
Reid Yoder, McCullough’s attorney, however, says a subsequent change to state law lowered the penalty for such an offense to a misdemeanor. He recently filed a motion asking Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Amy Corrigall Jones to dismiss the case.
“The law states this should be a misdemeanor,” Yoder said.
Summit County, prosecutors, however, say they checked with state officials about the status of the animal cruelty law and think McCullough was properly charged. Prosecutor’s plan to file a response to Yoder’s motion.
McCullough, 20, is scheduled to have a pretrial Monday morning. He is free on a personal recognizance bond.
McCullough was indicted March 27 on a charge of cruelty against a companion animal. If convicted, he faces up to a year in jail.
McCullough is accused of throwing Leo, his roommate’s 10-month-old kitten, against the wall in their Carroll Street apartment on Valentine’s Day. He took Leo to the vet but the kitten was already dead.
Goddard’s law, named for the WJW (Channel 8) weatherman who pushed for it, made it a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, to hurt a pet. Several people across Ohio have been charged under the law.
Yoder said Goddard’s law became effective Sept. 13, but the state legislature changed this part of the law again Dec. 7, lessening the animal cruelty penalty. He said the lesser penalty kicked in March 21, but that McCullough should face the lower penalty because the law had been amended when he was indicted.
In a March 22 memorandum, the Ohio Legislative Service Commission (LSC) addressed the confusion over changes made to the animal cruelty statute. The commission said a violation of Ohio Revised Code section 959.131 (C) — the section McCullough was charged under — is a felony, while a violation of another part of the statute is a misdemeanor.
Yoder said he is aware of the LSC memorandum, but that isn’t the law. He said it may not have been the legislature’s intention to lessen the cruelty penalty.
“They need to change the law,” he said. “If the intent is to make this a felony, it doesn’t read like that.”
Yoder said he will be curious to see Jones’ thoughts on the status of the law.
“It’s a legal argument,” he said. “I could be wrong or I could be right.”
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/swarsmith.