Trial to start in death of Chandler police dog

Chandler police Sgt. Tom Lovejoy's young daughters have been hearing the talk for months now.

Their father, who wears a badge and is sworn to enforce the law, could be sent to jail for as long as half a year if he is convicted of animal cruelty in the death of his police dog, which happened a year ago this week.

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"They know that the possibility is there of their daddy going away for six months," the sergeant's wife, Carolynn Lovejoy, said on Thursday. "My girls are freaking out."

Today, the Lovejoys' collective fears likely will be either calmed or realized as the veteran officer goes to trial in the case that has garnered headlines nationally and outcry throughout the Valley.

A verdict on the lone misdemeanor charge is expected before the end of the day.

Tom Lovejoy declined to discuss the trial ahead of time, as did a spokesman with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the case.

The case, taking place in Chandler's San Tan Justice Court, centers on the death of Bandit, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois owned and trained by the city's police department and assigned to Lovejoy.

On the morning of Aug. 11, 2007, after working an overnight off-duty shift, Lovejoy parked his police vehicle in the driveway of his house and went inside.

He later told investigators he was exhausted and forgot the dog was sleeping in the back of the sport utility vehicle.

Temperatures that day peaked above 100 degrees outside. Inside the car, it was even hotter.

Over the next nearly 13 hours, Lovejoy dealt with phone calls, family issues and a car accident involving his stepson. He said he never once thought the dog was still in the vehicle.

A little after 10 p.m., he returned to the SUV and found Bandit dead.

The criminal case over the incident will come down to technicalities.

Nobody is disputing the facts of what happened, only what they mean.

At issue is the interpretation of the state's animal cruelty law. Lovejoy is charged with the least serious portion of the law, which deals with reckless cruelty.

To win a conviction, prosecutors have to prove the officer had some sort of knowledge of the danger he was putting the dog in when he left it alone.

Lovejoy's attorney, Robert Kavanagh, will argue, however, that Lovejoy didn't know what he was doing.

In court documents, Kavanagh has said that Lovejoy "tragically forgot" about the dog and was not even aware of what was happening.

The distinction is slight but important. There is no crime on the books in Arizona for negligent animal cruelty.

If prosecutors cannot prove Lovejoy acted with recklessness, the law says the dog's death doesn't add up to a crime.

Carolynn Lovejoy said if there was a law against neglecting an animal, then the death would have probably already resulted in her husband being found guilty.

"If this was about negligence, then yes, he's guilty of negligence," she said. "He's just not guilty of recklessness."

Carolynn Lovejoy said the last year has been filled with anxiety.

The pretrial part of the case has seen criticism lobbed on the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for concluding that the accident was a crime and seeking charges against Lovejoy last September.

But it has also seen threats and personal attacks against Lovejoy and his family.

"I can't even put that into words," she said.

More recently, the family has been frustrated by news that two Valley parents whose children died unattended in the back of hot vehicles will not be charged with crimes.

The county attorney's office said in June that separate grand juries had decided not to charge either Kyle Brown of Chandler or Ashly Duchene of Phoenix with crimes.

Each parent was suspected of negligent homicide in incidents last year, and each was eventually cleared.

"But they're going to do this to Tom because he killed his dog," Carolynn Lovejoy said.

In the meantime, the Lovejoys have been telling their daughters, ages 9 and 12, to have faith in the justice system.

"All we can do is pray about it and pray that the right thing happens," she said.

Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman, the judge overseeing the matter, will be the lone person to decide Lovejoy's fate.

If he's found guilty, the officer could be put in jail, fined $2,500 or both.