CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Attorney Myron Takemoto tried to subdue his client, Mariko Bereday, yesterday as she was sentenced to five days in jail and one year probation, with a $4,000 fine, in District Court. She will appeal the sentence, and she has denied that her Rottweiler attacked children. "Bobo is my best friend," she told the judge. "My dog did not do this, your honor."
|
|
Pet owner gets 5 days jail time
She bursts into tears when a judge rules her dog must die
A judge has sentenced a Kahala woman whose dog attacked two children in separate occasions last year to five days in prison and one year probation, and ordered that her Rottweiler be put to death.
Mariko Bereday, the dog's owner, will appeal the sentence handed down yesterday by District Court Judge James Dannenberg, which also required her to pay $4,000 in fines and perform 300 hours of community service, said defense attorney Myron Takemoto.
"We believe the judge was absolutely wrong," he said. "There's insufficient evidence."
On May 8, 2005 at Kahala Beach, Bereday's dog, Bobo, bit then-2-year-old Keeton Manguso, and, five days later, 4-year-old Yuri Hamatake, according to Deputy Prosecutor Abigail Mayers.
In a lawsuit, Veronica Tomooka, Keeton's mother, said the Rottweiler had been allowed to roam unleashed the day it attacked her son near the Hunakai Street beach entrance.
Tomooka, who was not present at the sentencing, wrote in a statement to the court that she hoped Bereday's case would serve as a message to "all non-responsible pet owners."
"It truly infuriates me that five days after our incident, there was another attack with the same dog, same beach, with a little girl close in age with my son," she wrote.
Asked how his daughter was doing, Don Hamatake, Yuri's father, said, "Physically OK; mentally, no, she's not OK."
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Don and Mary Ann Hamatake, right, whose 4-year-old daughter Yuri was attacked by a Rottweiler, testified yesterday in District Court in support of the prosecution.
|
|
Earlier, Takemoto urged Dannenberg to consider Bereday's clean criminal record and to keep the sentence to a minimum $500 fine and six months probation. He also read statements from several people who argued that the dog, which is at least 10 years old, is friendly and docile.
Takemoto said Bereday has no friends or relatives whom she trusts to care for her six dogs and 42 birds if she were imprisoned.
"This is a petty misdemeanor ... the least serious criminal offense we have in our state," he said. "This does not involve Ms. Bereday herself, inflicting these alleged injuries. Their case is based upon an animal."
Bereday emotionally defended herself in court.
Wiping away tears, she repeatedly denied that her dog hurt the two children, claiming the injuries were from previous attacks involving other dogs.
"Bobo is my best friend," she said. "My dog did not do this, your honor."
In explaining his sentence, Dannenberg cited the fact that Bereday has refused to accept any responsibility in the attacks.
Bereday burst into tears when Dannenberg ordered that the dog be killed.
"This is a difficult case. I own a dog," Dannenberg said. "No matter how loving or lovable that dog may be ... that dog is a danger."
The defense has until Jan. 17 to file an appeal. Until then, Bereday's dog will be required to stay in her house as it has for a year.