A disagreement between neighbors involving dogs and property evolved into three Superior Court cases that ended in a trial last week.
Jason Robert Moss was found guilty of criminal trespass and the violation of two Jones County ordinances at the conclusion of the Jan. 14 bench trial before Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradley.
The judge found in the defendant’s favor in two of the ordinance violations but agreed that the state proved its case for the remaining ordinance violations and criminal trespass charge.
Fines for the ordinance violations totaled $350. Bradley sentenced Moss to 12 months probation and an additional $500 fine for the misdemeanor criminal trespass charge.
The trial dealt with five separate charges. Four of the charges were for the violation of county leash law ordinances with criminal trespass being the fifth charge.
The date of the ordinance violations were Nov. 25, 2023, and Jan. 22, 2024. The criminal trespass charge offense date was March 5, 2024.
Assistant District Attorney Eesha Kumar represented the state, and Moss defended himself.
Bradley explained at the beginning of the trial that it was actually the consolidation of three cases.
The defendant opted for a bench trial, which means there was no jury. The evidence was presented to the judge, who then decided the case.
The trial took approximately four hours, during which the state presented eight witnesses. Those witnesses consisted of the complainant in the cases, animal control officers, three Jones County deputies and two neighbors.
The evidence presented by the state, in addition to testimony, consisted of pictures, text messages and body cam videos from the officers.
The complainant in the cases and Moss are neighbors, although their houses are several acres apart. The testimony of the complainant talked about issues with Moss’s dogs that went back several years. Complaints about the defendant’s previous dogs that were ultimately categorized as dangerous dogs in 2023 concluded with the dogs being put down.
Those dogs actually killed the complainant’s dog in March of 2023 and had been aggressive toward people as well as other dogs. Reports of problems with Moss’s dogs with Jones County Animal Control and the sheriff’s department date back to 2016.
After those dogs were put down, Moss got another dog, and the complaints began again. Each time a witness talked about the dog getting out of the yard, the defendant denied that his dog got out.
Animal control officers testified that they knew the complainant was afraid of Moss and that was why they instructed her to let them deal with him.
After animal control issued the four citations for the violation of the leash law for the new dog in November of 2023 and January of 2024 the problem came to a head in March. A report of the March 5, 2024, incident by JCSO Deputy Matthew Dennis stated Moss reported his neighbor pulled a gun on him when he attempted to retrieve stolen property.
That stolen property turned out to be Moss’s dog, who had once again gotten onto the neighbor’s porch. The neighbor was instructed by animal control to shut the door, trapping the dog on the porch until they arrived.
After the January violation citation was issued to Moss for basically the same problem of the dog going into a screened-in porch, the defendant was instructed by JCSO Deputy Nolan Sullivan not to go back on his neighbor’s property.
Dennis testified that, after watching Sullivan’s body cam video, it was his opinion that Moss had been trespassed from the property. As a result, when the defendant went on the neighbor’s property again, in an attempt to get his dog, he was charged with the crime of criminal trespass.
Moss did not agree.
The important opinion, however, was the judge’s opinion, and Bradley agreed with the officers.
