City man found guilty in dog abuse trial, vows appeal

Anthony Lane, acting in his own defense, questions Meals on Wheels volunteer Jeanne Stadleman during Thursday's bench trial in Rochester District Court. (Harrison Thorp photos)

ROCHESTER - Anthony Lane said on Thursday he’ll fight his animal cruelty case conviction all the way to the New Hampshire Supreme Court if he has to.

“I’m not paying a dollar, they can throw my ass in jail,” he said as he filled out paperwork at the Rochester District Court clerk’s office after District Court Judge Saweko Gardner found him guilty and saddled him with a $1,000 fine, $500 more than if he had pleaded guilty moments earlier, for throwing his mother’s dog, Pepper, up against the wall on a hot July day last summer.

“I will appeal, I will get a lawyer. I will appeal all the way to the Supreme Court,” Lane said. “I want to be found innocent.”

Lane, 38, of 176 Jamie Drive, Rochester, was charged with a single misdemeanor count of animal cruelty for allegedly throwing the dog up against the wall on July 9 for pooping on the floor. He says the dog pooped on the floor, but all he did was pick it up, thump the floor, say bad dog and brush it toward the door. Lane was arrested in the alleged attack on July 19.

Anthony Lane sketches a depiction of the kitchen where the incident occurred showing, he said, that a Meals on Wheels worker could not have wintessed the alleged attack as she testified.

The trial, watched by a full courtroom, centered on two witnesses, one for the prosecution and one for the defense: a Meals on Wheels worker who said she witnessed the attack and now owns the dog; and Lane’s mom, who said she lied to police when she told a Rochester officer after the incident she’d seen her son toss the 10-pound Pomerania/Dachshund mix against the wall after the “accident.”

Meals on Wheels volunteer Jeanne Stadleman said she came into the residence around noon to deliver a meal to Lane’s elderly mother and saw Lane toss the dog against the wall.

Lane, who acted in his own defense, questioned how she could have seen the alleged attack, because he said the door was open and there was no way she could have observed the incident because he and Pepper were on the other side.

Stadleman said she saw Lane walk down the hallway and observe the dog squatting, then picked up the dog and threw it at the wall causing the dog to yelp. She said after the attack she begged Lane’s mom, Rita Middleton, to let her take the dog, because Stadleman said she felt Lane would continue to be abusive to the animal.

In the end, Middleton relented.

“I got my Pepper and put her in a box” for Stadleman to take, an emotional Middleton said during questioning by her son.

But later during the same questioning, she admitted that she had lied to police officers when she said he tossed the dog, because “I was mad at him” that day.

“Did you believe I hurt her?” Lane asked his mother.

“I believe you scared her,” she replied, adding that the dog often screamed when picked up.

Under cross-examination, Prosecutor Lt. Anne Gould of the Rochester Police Department asked Middleton, “Do you remember saying you saw him throw the dog (to the investigating officer)?”

“Yes,” Middleton said.

“Were you lying?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I was mad at my son,” Middleton said matter-of-factly.

After the two witnesses Lane took the stand, himself, to draw a picture of the kitchen of the Middleton residence in an effort to show how Stadleman could not have seen the alleged attack because the door was open and blocking her view.

Lane was offered a $500 fine if he pleaded guilty, but refused, after which it was upped to $1,000 plus fees.

As part of the sentence handed down by Gardner, Lane can have no contact with animals, a part of the sentence that drew a gasp in the courtroom from Middleton who still owns a cat.

Gould added that the state would have no problem with her being able to keep the cat, but Lane could have no contact with dogs.