RALEIGH - David Lance Upchurch was found not guilty Monday in the death of Noah, a small dog with a brave, but apparently diseased, heart.
The case of the coddled Chihuahua divided a Southeast Raleigh neighborhood and drew big interest from the general public and members of the legal profession. And it may not be over.
Upchurch, 38, of 1028 Cookwood Court, was found not guilty of cruelty to animals after Wake District Court Judge William Lawton ruled he could not conclude Upchurch caused the death of the 12-year-old, long-haired dog.
Wake prosecutor Boz Zellinger had contended that Upchurch fatally injured Noah on Aug. 30 by holding him down and squeezing him between his breastbone and neck.
Upchurch, who works in the information services department of The News & Observer, has said he was defending his black Labrador retriever, Sasha, from a growling, teeth-baring Noah. He maintains he did not apply enough pressure to kill, but Noah died within the hour at Knightdale Animal Hospital.
Zellinger described the loss suffered by Noah's owner, Betty Richardson, as tragic. Richardson doted on her pet, dressing him in tiny outfits and giving him annual stays at a pet resort. She has planted a tree in his memory.
"Noah was a member of her family for 12 years," Zellinger said.
Noah's death so divided Upchurch's neighborhood that Lawton called it a case of minor tribal warfare. He said he hoped his decision Monday would not aggravate an already tense situation.
Noah's death pitted neighbor against neighbor in a cul-de-sac where all but one homeowner owns a dog. On the day that Noah died, angry neighbors -- some who claimed that Noah was choked and kicked -- gathered at the homes of Richardson and Upchurch. T.W. Bowen, a Raleigh police animal control officer, testified Friday that the Cookwood Court residents were "a mob."
On Friday, Lawton ordered supporters of Upchurch and supporters of Richardson to leave the courtroom separately.
On Monday, more than half of Zellinger's fellow prosecutors from the Wake District Attorney's Office showed up in the fifth floor courtroom to hear Lawton's verdict, which he announced after reading an 11-page opinion he wrote during the weekend.
Two small-animal veterinarians testified last week that any trauma Noah might have endured at Upchurch's hand could have worsened an existing heart condition, but they could not testify that it led to Noah's death.
Lawton said Monday the law required an acquittal, despite his "gut feeling and love of small animals."
"The defendant definitely acted without justifiable excuse," Lawton said, questioning why a 170-pound man could not put himself between a 6-pound dog and the 100-pound dog he said was protecting.
Even though Upchurch was found not guilty, he was still smarting. He said he was especially peeved by news reports that quoted him as saying to Richardson: "This is what another dog would do if he wanted to kill your dog."
"I said, 'This is what dogs do to correct each other.' I never used the word 'kill,'" Upchurch said.
"I'm innocent. It's what I've said all along," he said. "Heart disease killed the dog."
Upchurch also disagreed with the judge's observation Monday that he could have resolved the August confrontation between Noah and Sasha without touching the smaller dog. "That's his opinion," Upchurch said. "I would say otherwise."
After the verdict, Noah's owner returned to her home and sat crying in a darkened room.
"My heart is aching right now," Richardson said. "We are going to take it to the next level, just like the O.J. case. We're going to take civil action."
thomasi.mcdonald@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4533
