Woman bitten by dogs and justice system

Dogs mauled Sarah Hickok's legs, and a miscommunication between a prosecutor and a judge may have ended her chance at justice.

Hickok, 40, suffered about a dozen wounds around her knees when she was attacked by three dogs on Oct. 6. When a city prosecutor didn't attend the bench trial against the dogs' owners, the judge dismissed the case.

Seven weeks later, Hickok is broke, unemployed and homeless, and the pit bull-mix dogs that were initially seized have been returned to their owners.

“It's like nobody was concerned,” Hickok said. “I just didn't understand that.”

Hickok's life went into a tailspin that afternoon when she knocked on her upstairs neighbors' door, at 415 12th St. SE. Her landlord had asked her to coordinate with the neighbors to determine when to fog the residence for fleas.

Hickok knew about the dogs but had never had an issue with them in the three months she and her 7-year-old son had lived in the old house. When she knocked, the dogs came barreling down the steps, pushed open the flimsy screen door and attacked, she said.

“I tried to get them off, but I couldn't,” said Hickok, fighting tears. “I ended up getting over the railing and fought them off with my charcoal grill (lid).”

At the hospital, doctors determined one of the bites had caused nerve damage behind her left knee, leaving part of her foot numb. A subsequent infection put Hickok in the hospital for four days.

After reviewing the case, prosecutors charged the dog owners - Christopher Morrison, 27, and Samantha Faulk, 26 - for violating the city ordinance against vicious and dangerous animals. A bench trial was set for Oct. 13, but Hickok couldn't attend. So it was pushed back to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 18, according to court records.

That day, Assistant City Attorney Liz Jacobi, the city's only prosecutor, was involved in a jury trial that was expected to wrap up by 11 a.m. The trial ran long, and it became clear late that morning that Jacobi would not be able to present arguments in the dog-bite case.

City spokeswoman Cassie Willis, to whom Jacobi referred all questions about the case, said Jacobi made several attempts by phone and e-mail that day to ask Magistrate Robin O'Brien Licht for a continuance.

“The judge was on lunch at one point, during the times that (Jacobi) was trying to let the judge know,” Willis said.

O'Brien Licht said she didn't learn of the request for a continuance until she saw an e-mail three minutes before the trial was scheduled to begin.

“We're not going to grant a continuance that late,” said O'Brien Licht, citing a general practice that each side is allowed one continuance. “I guess the court's assumption was that they would have sent somebody else from their office to cover it.”

Willis said Jacobi could not leave the jury trial and was surprised by the dismissal.

Dog owner Faulk, who attended the hearing with her boyfriend, Morrison, said the judge left the decision about dismissal up to them.

“She said, ‘It's up to you whether you want to continue it or have it dismissed,' ” Faulk said. “Of course, we wanted it dismissed.”

Hickok was baffled when she was told about the dismissal in the waiting area next to the courtroom. Later that day, Jacobi called her.

“I told her on the phone, ‘This is my life, this is my son's life. How could you not show up?' ” Hickok said. “ ‘I did my best.' That's what she said.”

Willis said the 2008 flood made it tougher for attorneys and judges to communicate. Now jury trials are held downtown, while bench trials are held at Westdale Mall.

“Before the flood, I don't think this would have been a problem,” Willis said. “Post-flood, as we've spread out the resources across the city, that adds to the issue here.”

Asked whether the City Attorney's Office needs more staff to handle its caseload, Willis declined to comment, saying it was a decision for the City Council.

The dog-bite case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning animal control could ask the City Attorney's Office to refile the charge at any time. That appears unlikely, because the dog owners claim Hickok entered their home when no one heard the knock. It's a key question to determine liability.

“Without any clear indication as to what happened, it doesn't behoove us to move forward, without anymore information one way or another,” said Diane Webber, the city's manager for animal care and control. “It's a case that would take the court's time, and we may not win anyway.”

Faulk said she did not see Hickok come inside but said she knows her mother shut the heavy inner door. She was preparing to take the dogs outside, she said, when the dogs apparently heard the knock and rushed at Hickok.

Faulk said she feels responsible for the attack, but not legally responsible. She disagreed that the dogs were vicious and said Hickok's son has been around them.

“My little boy climbs and jumps on them, too, and he's 2-and-a-half years old and weighs 50 pounds,” Faulk said. “They're not vicious at all. They're protective, but not vicious.”

Meanwhile, Hickok is still trying to pick up the pieces. She expects thousands of dollars in medical bills and still has nightmares about the attack. She said her factory job is gone, because the attack left her unable to be on her feet for eight hours.

With the dogs back upstairs at the duplex, she and her son have been staying at a homeless shelter.

She hopes an attorney will take up her case to pursue a civil lawsuit.

“I've gone from something to absolutely nothing,” Hickok said. “It's a catastrophe. I've never, ever, ever been homeless. This is the bottom of the pit.”