CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Pinellas County judge has declined to dismiss evidence obtained with a search warrant in the case of a St. Petersburg man accused of animal cruelty.
Dozens of demonstrators showed up at the courthouse wearing t-shirts and waving signs with a picture of Dexter, the 4-year-old bull dog mix.
Investigators say Dexter was adopted last month by 66-year-old Domingo Rodriguez before being decapitated by him the next day.
During Monday's court hearing, Rodriguez's lawyers were asking to have some key evidence * thrown out.
Detectives say Dexter's body was found in a plastic bag floating in the waters at Fort De Soto's East Park. They report having images showing a large container in the back of Rodriguez's truck at the park, and also found similar plastic bags at his home in St. Petersburg. In addition, they seized his phone and presumably found incriminating conversations between Rodriguez and his wife.
That’s the evidence Rodriguez's attorneys wanted the judge to throw out, arguing the warrant that led to that evidence should not have been issued.
“Now, with the state wants to do, they want to go through the phone to get their information. They want my client to self incriminate himself and start doing a fishing expedition, but that's not what the law requires,” said Victor Zamora, Rodriguez’s defense lawyer. “The law requires that there has to be probable cause. You have to define what you're looking for, and then the search warrant is okay. But we don't have that here."
“This isn't the kind of dog where there was an issue or a problem,” said Amber Szedlar, one of the demonstration’s organizers. "This was just a dog that was sweet. And what happened to him was beyond tragic. Beyond inhumane. And that's a felony in the state of Florida.”
Judge Keith Meyer ultimately ruled against Rodriguez — denying the defense’s motion to suppress the evidence. However, the judge warned prosecutors that if anything does come up that appears to be privileged communication between Rodriguez and his wife, the defendant maintains the right to argue to exclude that eventually at a trial.
Protestors, including many who volunteer at the shelter and say they knew Dexter before he was adopted, vow to be at every hearing and the trial. They say they want the court to ultimately sentence Rodriguez to the maximum five years under Florida law. For now, Rodriguez remains free on bond.
The judge also ruled that for now the 66-year-old is not allowed to own or adopt any animals, but stopped short of barring Rodriguez from being around any animals in public. He said it would be too difficult for Rodriguez to control those circumstances.