Expert defends use of dog at civil trial

NORFOLK

A police dog training expert testified Tuesday that Gordon Barry, the officer who mistakenly shot and killed a fellow policeman during a disturbance in Young Terrace in May 2006, was justified in using his police dog during the confrontation.

Barry is being sued by Philip Harvey, who was bitten on the ear and hand by Barry's police dog. The lawsuit does not deal with any of the issues raised by the shooting of the police officer, Seneca Darden, 25.

The trial began Monday. Barry testified that he was trying to prevent someone from being shot when he released the dog. But the dog ran past Barry's intended target - a man in blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and Timberland boots - and attacked Harvey. It was then that Barry fired his police weapon, striking the man wearing the Timberlands - Darden, who had responded to the scene in plainclothes, and who had his gun drawn and was confronting a man.

Barry didn't realize he was a police officer.

In Tuesday's testimony, Norfolk police officer and dog trainer Robert Chambers testified that Barry had acted reasonably in commanding the dog to apprehend, and that it was the least use of force Barry could have implemented given his assessment of the situation.

"You don't close the distance on an armed suspect," Chambers said, under questioning from one of Barry's lawyers, James E. Cales III.

Another canine officer who was at the scene that night, Shawn Jacobs, offered an explanation of why the dog attacked Harvey and not Darden.

Jacobs testified that a few feet away from where Darden had his gun pointed at a man in a toe-to-toe standoff, another man was struggling with a police officer. The man was trying to get inside an apartment; the officer was trying to prevent him from going in.

Jacobs did not identify that man as Harvey. But his description of where the struggle occurred matched the description in other testimony of where Harvey was located during the events.

One of Harvey's lawyers, Adam H. Lotkin, told jurors Monday that Harvey had been doing nothing wrong when he was attacked by the dog.

Jacobs, too, said Barry had acted reasonably in releasing his dog, and that he might have taken the same actions if his dog was focused on a target.

He testified that the entire series of events happened in seconds.

"When stuff is unfolding, seconds are pretty long," Jacobs said.

Circuit Judge Charles E. Poston interrupted proceedings to find a juror who arrived 45 minutes late in contempt of court. Poston fined the juror $250 and sent him to jail for five hours. A deputy led him away in handcuffs.

Pilot writer Matthew Bowers contributed to this report.

Michelle Washington, (757)446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com