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.Willie Miller is next to me, sitting in his seat and looking around as if he were at a Broadway theater.“This is really cool,” he says.Kevin’s courtroom comments, as I recall, were generally more helpful.Eddie Lynch is not here.I didn’t think it necessary that he come, and he seemed to show no great desire to do so.But I will be relying on his brief to a considerable degree.Judge Catchings welcomes us to his courtroom and admonishes us not to be long-winded.He also asks us if we have anything to say before we begin.Eli stands and says, “Your Honor, while we have not had much time to prepare on this issue, and it is unique to say the least, I cannot find in any statute any right to bail for an animal.”“That may be true,” the judge says.“The way I look at it is that we are here to decide if the continuing confinement of the dog known as Milo is warranted.As Mr.Carpenter’s brief points out, there are any number of ways that his release could be handled legally.Bail is simply one of them.”That is already a small victory for me.Now I just have to show that Milo shouldn’t be kept captive; I don’t have to jump through quite as many legal hoops as I anticipated to manage it.I nod my thanks to Judge Catchings and say, “Your Honor, the defense calls Thomas Basilio.”Thomas Basilio is the forty-one-year-old head of animal control in Passaic County.It is not a coveted position; dogcatchers are not exactly widely loved in most communities, and he is the king of the catchers.Because of the overwhelming number of unwanted dogs, it means that his department must euthanize a good number of them.It’s not a position I’d want to be in.I have spent some time socially with Basilio, and he’s a decent guy with a disarming sense of humor.He’s not going to get a chance to use it today.“Mr.Basilio, you are aware that you have a German shepherd named Milo in your custody?”“Yes.”“He’s at the shelter in Paterson?”“Yes.”“How did he come to be incarcerated there?”“The police turned him over to us.”“Why? What did he do wrong?“I don’t know that he did anything wrong.They didn’t share that with me.”“Are you aware that they have stationed a guard outside his cage twenty-four hours a day?”“Yes.”“Did they tell you why?”He shakes his head.“No.I asked, but they said it had to do with a case and was confidential.”“Under what circumstances do you keep dogs in the shelters?” I ask.“There can be a few reasons.Dogs can be found stray, and we hold them until perhaps their owner can find them.If not, we hope they will be adopted by a new owner.Or an owner might not want a dog anymore, and he brings it to our shelter.”“Is that it?”“No.If a dog is a danger to the community, say if he has attacked or bitten someone, then we keep him confined.Often we have to put those dogs to sleep.”“That means kill them?”“Yes.”“Which of those reasons speaks to why Milo is there?”He thinks for a moment.“I’m not sure.His owner is, as I understand it, unavailable to take care of him.As far as whether he’s dangerous, I suppose the police would know better about that.”I introduce as evidence a letter from Billy Zimmerman giving me ownership of Milo.I had privately assured Billy that it was a temporary, though necessary, move.“So if I am the owner of Milo, and I want to take him home and care for him, that would remove one of the reasons for his confinement?”Basilio shrugs.“I suppose it would.”I turn the witness over to Eli, but he doesn’t have any questions.I suspect that Eli will be reluctant to ask many questions throughout the hearing.Lawyers classically will not ask questions they don’t know the answer to, and since Eli didn’t even know about the guard, he’ll be extra careful.We’re off to a good start.DETECTIVE CARL OAKES LOOKS LIKE HE WOULD RATHER BE ANYWHERE ELSE BUT ON THE STAND.His body language and facial expressions seem to indicate that taking his time up on a matter as trivial as this is beneath his dignity.As his adversary, that gives me an advantage, because nothing is beneath my dignity.“Detective Oakes, you personally gave the order for Milo to be incarcerated in the Passaic County Animal Shelter?”“It wasn’t an order.It was a request.”“Did he bite anyone?” I ask.“Not that I know of,” he says.“Have you ever made a request like this before?”“When we arrest someone who has an animal, and there is no one to care for it, it is turned over to the shelter.”“You personally do that?” I ask.“Not usually.”“Ever?”“I don’t recall,” he says, obviously annoyed.“Why did you personally make the request in this case?”“I told you.There was no one to care for the dog.”That doesn’t come close to answering my question, but I let it go.“So if I told you I was Milo’s new owner, and that I would care for him, that would alleviate your concern and you would tell the shelter you no longer wanted him held there?”“I didn’t say that.The dog committed a theft.”I smile.“Milo is a crook?”“He committed a theft.”“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” I introduce as evidence the letter I got from Eli, confirming that Milo was being held because of the robbery [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]