Dog-Killing Case Gets Stranger as Trial Halts

The death of Leo the dog was an odd case to begin with--bichon frise tossed into traffic by a motorist allegedly consumed with road rage.

The subsequent animal cruelty trial here of Andrew Burnett has been no less surprising.

First came the admission by defense attorney Marc Garcia that his client actually did drop the small white dog into traffic on that dark, rainy evening 17 months ago, an act that led to a manhunt, a Web site, a $120,000 reward, international attention and an Oprah visit by the dog’s bereaved owner.

But it was Leo’s own darn fault; the dog bit Burnett first, Garcia insisted in his opening statement. But even Burnett’s fiancee didn’t know that tidbit, she testified Monday, until she heard it on the news after the trial began last week.

When she was able to talk to Burnett by phone after Garcia’s opening statement, Jackie Irene Figgins said in court Monday, “I expressed my opinion that I was not happy that I had not heard about it.” They had, of course, been in contact regularly for more than a year.

And now, a string of late informants has materialized, knocking the trial off course for a week. There are surprise allegations of an animal cruelty incident in Burnett’s Navy past. And a new eyewitness has come forth allegedly denying that the bichon bit Burnett.

The trial is on hold so Garcia has more time to get to the bottom of the allegations and both sides can figure out what those claims mean for the case. Testimony is expected to resume Monday.

In the interim, Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Kevin J. Murphy admonished the attorneys Monday afternoon not to talk to the 20 or so reporters--from television news magazines, People magazine, the wire services, the networks and local newspapers--who have converged on the courthouse here to watch the case unfold.

Northern California is mesmerized this year with all things animal, as a remarkable parade of pet-related peccadilloes marches across the newspaper pages, is trumpeted on the airwaves and gets the kind of word of mouth that makers of hit movies only dream of.

In addition to this case of an alleged dog killer, there has also been a killer dog--owned by San Francisco attorneys Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller, in jail and facing trial--and the cat lady who bought a two-story house in Petaluma for her 206 cats and allegedly left them there. She also faces criminal charges.

Even San Francisco Chronicle Executive Editor Phil Bronstein made the news when he was attacked over the weekend by a Komodo dragon at the Los Angeles Zoo. Bronstein was being allowed an up-close look at the dragon when the beast apparently mistook his bare foot for dinner. Bronstein remained hospitalized Monday in stable condition, according to Chronicle spokesman Joe Brown.

“Since the Noel and Knoller case and the Leo case, there is a heightened awareness of animal issues,” says Carl Friedman, director of the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control. Now it seems like whenever there is an interesting animal story the media is right on it.”

In Friedman’s world, animal stories are nothing new; he’s come in contact with dozens of collectors like the woman in the Petaluma case. But he believes the extra attention is good. If the media and the public take animal issues seriously, he said, “the powers that be will take them more seriously,” and maybe more money for creature causes will follow.

Leo died Feb. 11, 2000, when his owner, Sara McBurnett, took him with her to San Jose International Airport to pick up her husband, an airline pilot. Stuck in bad weather and worse traffic near the airport, McBurnett was allegedly cut off by a large black sport utility vehicle. She could not stop in time to avoid bumping the SUV.

The driver got out, strode to McBurnett’s Subaru Legacy waving his arms, reached in, grabbed the dog and tossed him onto the roadway. McBurnett struggled out of the car to rescue her dog, but Leo was struck by a vehicle before she could reach him. He later died.

For months, there were no arrests. McBurnett became an institution: Grief-stricken animal owner pleads for justice. A Web site ran a composite sketch of a goateed suspect in a baseball cap, and reward money flooded in.

Then Santa Clara Police Det. Sgt. Phil Zaragoza got an e-mailed tip that the slender white man in his 20s or 30s in the composite was Andrew Douglas Burnett, now 27. Burnett had been arrested in early December on charges that he had stolen equipment from his employer, Pacific Bell, and lied to avoid a speeding ticket. He has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.

A Santa Clara County Grand Jury indicted him April 12 on a single count of animal cruelty. The trial began Wednesday. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.

In court Monday, the prosecution played excerpt after excerpt of taped conversations between Burnett, jailed in San Jose, and Figgins or his mother, Claire Burnett. Some of the chats were admonitions that no one should talk about what they obliquely called “that other matter.”

Son to mother, subject Zaragoza: “Call everyone he’s talked to and tell them not to talk to him anymore. Tell them to hang up.”

Mother to incarcerated son: “Don’t talk about anything. Try to remember not to talk in your sleep.”

Figgins was the one who broke the news to Burnett that he had been indicted on charges of animal cruelty in Leo’s death. Burnett’s response? He laughed. “Whatever,” he said.

And then there was the post-indictment chat about media strategy. Who should Burnett talk to? What about Figgins? What about cash in return for comment?

Burnett: “Oprah would definitely want me.”

Figgins: “Oprah has the same kind of dog . . . Oprah would be sensitive.”

Burnett: “Oprah and Montel [Williams] would be more sensitive, more sophisticated.”

Figgins: “I’d never do Jerry Springer and Howard Stern. . . . He’d make too much light of it. . . . You’d laugh. I just know that would not look good.”