Prosecutor opposes move to dismiss animal cruelty case

The Windsor County state’s attorney’s office has gone on record opposing the dismissal of animal cruelty charges against a former Springfield psychologist who allegedly kicked a pet dog to death last summer.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110120/NEWS02/701209873

Published January 20, 2011 in the Rutland Herald

Prosecutor opposes move to dismiss animal cruelty case

By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Windsor County state’s attorney’s office has gone on record opposing the dismissal of animal cruelty charges against a former Springfield psychologist who allegedly kicked a pet dog to death last summer.

In a response filed to a motion from the attorney of Mark G. Koch to dismiss the charges, Windsor County State’s Attorney Robert Sand said Koch delivered the fatal kick to Zoe, a white German shepherd owned by the Dechen family, after Zoe and Koch’s dog separated.

Koch maintains that he lawfully kicked Zoe because she was fighting with his dog in an effort to separate the two dogs and protect his dog.

“Defendant offers a version of events in his motion that, if true, would likely entitle him to dismissal of this action,” wrote Sand. “However, there is substantial evidence that portrays a dramatically different version of events.”

Koch, at the time of the June 3 incident, rented office space at the Springfield Family Center, which is in a residential neighborhood in Springfield.

According to police accounts, the German shepherd slipped its 25-foot cable and got involved in a fight with Koch’s medium-sized dog.

According to a police interview with Richard Dechen, the German shepherd’s co-owner, Koch delivered a “vicious kick” to the dog after the fight had ended and the dogs were at least 10 feet apart.

Zoe had previously belonged to the Dechen’s late son, Kurt Dechen, a Marine who died in Iraq. The dog died later that night at the Springfield Animal Hospital, where the Dechens had taken her for treatment. It died of a ruptured spleen, the veterinarian said.

“Even if defendant had a right to use force to separate the dogs while they were fighting, he had no right to kick Zoe after the dogs had disengaged,” Sand wrote in his reponse.

Sand said Koch told Springfield police investigators, after the dogs separated, “concerned that they may reengage, I made every effort to prevent this.”

“Whether the final kick was retaliatory or preventative, it was unlawful,” Sand wrote, adding that the state disputed many of the claims in the motion filed by Koch’s lawyer, Kevin Griffith of White River Junction.

“Suffice it to say that the evidence in the light most favorable to the state is sufficient to support a conviction. The motion should be denied.”

Judge Patricia Zimmerman has taken both motions under advisement, and a court official said a hearing would be held on the motion to dismiss.

Koch has since moved his office to Windsor., where he specializes in marriage and family therapy. At one point, he taught anger management classes at the state prison in Springfield.