Dog Has His Day in Courtroom

--Satan made them do it. When Eva and Martin Pinnas’ 10-year marriage ended, they calmly agreed that each would get a Mercedes, a house and part of the family business. But the Houston couple needed a judge to decide who got custody of Satan, a Doberman pinscher. “There is no argument over money or property,” Martin Pinnas said. “The only issue between us is this little fellow here.” After hearing evidence that the dog has lost weight and spirit since the couple’s separation, State District Judge Dean Huckabee awarded Martin Pinnas temporary custody. “The breeder testified that the dog would be harmed if he was bounced back and forth like a Ping-Pong ball,” said attorney Earle S. Lilly. When the couple separated last February, they agreed to joint custody. Martin Pinnas kept the dog during the day; Eva Pinnas had him in the evenings and on weekends. But Martin Pinnas decided that arrangement was bad for Satan, so he hired an attorney for $10,000 and $300 an hour to take the dog’s case to court. “I would spend every penny that I have, could borrow or steal if I needed it to preserve our relationship,” he said of Satan. “He’s the most important living creature in my life. I don’t think of him as a dog, and I don’t think he thinks of himself as a dog. . . . He thinks the house we live in is his house, the car we drive in is his car, and I’m his pet.”

--Cuban leader Fidel Castro signed a $1.3-million deal to write three books, U.S. News & World Report said. Simon & Schuster is to publish the volumes. The first reportedly will be on the failure of religion; the second will be on the Third World and the failure of economic policies. No details on the third book were available.

--Nancy Reagan said news that her husband had cancer shocked her--and so did some doctors. In an interview with John McLaughlin for his weekly television program, “One on One,” the First Lady said that some doctors not involved in the case behaved badly by second-guessing President Reagan’s care. “It’s unprofessional, it’s unethical,” she said of suggestions that Reagan’s physicians should have made a more complete examination of his colon last year. “I have problems with doctors who have nothing to do with the case and really didn’t know anything about the case going on television or the press talking about it.” Mrs. Reagan, a doctor’s daughter, added that news of the cancerous colon “was such a shock, but I was so determined that my husband not know how I really felt and to try to wait till I got back here (to the White House) to let down, which is hard to do.”