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Assistant Prosecutor Reed Gusciora had all of his witnesses lined up in court and submitted all of the veterinarian care records to the public defender prior to trial.
But a glitch emerged as they were preparing to start the trial yesterday in Trenton Municipal Court -- the defense lawyers didn’t have the official credentials from the prosecution’s expert witness.
Veterinarian Janice Wilson Haines quickly had her office fax over a copy of her license and resume and it was handed to defense attorney Lee Waring minutes before the trial was to start.
"We are not prepared to move forward with this case until we get the credentials so we can match them to an expert witness for the defense," Waring told Judge Paul D. McLemore.
Facing trial were Ruth Koch and Eric Pullen, of Brueing Avenue, who owned Peanut on April 21 and 22, 2004, when the pit bull was scalded possibly with a chemical on his back and neck and didn’t take the injured animal to a vet.
Instead they allegedly allowed the dog to wander the streets of the city for days.
"As reluctant as I am to do this ... as a jurist, I can’t go on with this trial when all of the expert witnesses are not here," McLemore said. "This matter will be tried."
He adjourned the trial and rescheduled it for Nov. 16 at 12:30 in the court located on Clinton Avenue next to Trenton police headquarters.
The horribly injured Peanut was spotted by Capital Health System at Mercer nurse Dawn Tucker behind the facility close to death and bleeding from open wounds on his back, left shoulder and neck.
Tucker lured the poor starving pooch into her car with a peanut butter cookie and drove the dog to a 24-hour emergency vet in Langhorne, Pa.
"At first he was on the back seat of my car but he was uncomfortable," Tucker said waiting for the trial to start.
"He ended up on the front seat next to me and put his head on my lap. He was so sweet."
It took weeks and more than $24,000 -- paid for by animal lovers across the country who sent in donations -- to heal the dog, said Haines.
He was adopted by Amy and Sebastian Musumeci, of West Chester, Pa., and today is a healthy, happy-go-lucky puppy.
Koch and Pullen were charged with cruelty to animals in general for not providing veterinarian care, cruelty that caused an injury and abandoning a domestic animal.
If found guilty on all charges, they each face a $3,000 fine and one to six months in jail, said Stuart Goldman, special investigator with the SPCA.
