Jury deadlocked in Grayslake dog-shooting trial

A Lake County jury deliberated for more than seven hours Thursday without reaching a verdict in the case of a Grayslake-area man accused of shooting a dog outside his house.

Circuit Judge James Booras sent the seven men and five women on the jury home for the night around 9 p.m. and told them to return to the courthouse at 9 a.m. today to resume their deliberations.

The jurors sent a message to Booras after about four hours of consideration of the case saying they could not reach a unanimous verdict, but Booras told them to continue deliberating.

The jurors have a choice of three crimes to acquit or convict Elvin Dooley of, thanks to a last-minute addition won by the defense.

Circuit Judge James Booras agreed with a defense motion to include the misdemeanor offense of cruelty to animals to the pair of felonies Dooley had previously faced.

Dooley was originally charged with animal torture, punishable by up to five years in prison, and felony animal cruelty, which carries a maximum penalty of up to three years.

Defense attorneys LaTonya Burton and Sharmila Manak argued that the third charge would should be included because there had been no clear evidence that their client had the required state of mind to face felony charges.

Dooley, 57, is accused of shooting a small black dog that had been dropped off at the Save A Pet animal shelter near his home but that had run away from shelter employees trying to bring the dog inside.

Dana Deutsch, Save A Pet manager, testified she saw the dog running in a field near Dooley's house on the 24000 block of Townline Road and heard gunshots. She drove to Dooley's house and was looking through the window at him when the third and presumably fatal shot was fired, Duetsch said.

She got the dog out of the field with the help of two workers from the nearby Round Lake Park public works facility, Deutsch said, but the animal died on the way to an emergency care center.

In her closing argument, Manak told the jury that there had been no evidence presented showing that her client was firing his rifle at the dog.

Two witnesses testified Wednesday that Dooley had an oil drum and other objects set out on his property that he could have been firing at, but Booras disallowed the testimony because there had been no evidence presented that Dooley was target-shooting.

Nonetheless, Manak persisted in the theme that the dog had been shot by mistake in her closing argument.

"Accidents happen, and when they do it does not mean you intended the outcome," she said. "Bad luck happens and when it does, it does not mean you deserved the outcome."

Assistant State's Attorney Raquel Robles-Eschbach told the jurors there was no reason for them to believe anything accidental had happened to the dog.

She argued that Dooley deliberately fired at the dog, which died a slow and painful death as it staggered for several yards in the field after being wounded. She urged the jurors to convict Dooley of the more serious crimes out of respect for the Save A Pet employees who tried to catch it Jan. 26 so they could take care of it.

"On Jan. 26, people were trying to protect him from the cold, the traffic and the coyote that had been seen in the area," she said. "But no one could protect him from Elvin Dooley."

Dooley also faces charges of possession of a weapon by a felon, because he was convicted of burglary in Alabama in 1978, and possession of a weapon by a felon. Those trials have yet to be scheduled.