Jury deliberating in fatal dog mauling trial

DILLON — Jury deliberations are under way in the trial of a Dillon man for the 2006 dog mauling death of a 10-year-old-boy.

Bentley Collins faces one count of involuntary manslaughter and multiple charges of keeping unconfined dangerous animals in connection with the death of Matthew Davis. Under state law, a dangerous animal is defined as a dog or cat the owner knows is likely to attack. The animal must attack a person outside the space where it is confined.

Matthew was found dead by his mother Nov. 3, 2006, after six dogs attacked him in the driveway of Collins’ Home Light Road residence in the Emanuelville community in Dillon County.

On Thursday, Collins told Circuit Court Judge Paul Burch, who is presiding over the case, he chose to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights.

“If I had something to say, I would definitely say it,” Collins said.

Before resting its case, the defense team led by Marion attorney Robert E. Lee questioned several witnesses including a military dog trainer, a dog breeder and an independent forensic consultant.

Richard E. McDonald, the head trainer for a Virginia company that trains canines in bomb detection for the U.S Marines, said he saw photographs of Collins’ six dogs. All appeared to be in ideal condition for working dogs and weren’t aggressive, he said.

Lee showed Donald a photograph of a 36-pound boxer mix and asked if it was in good health.

“That’s a perfect look for a boxer. I mean, that’s the way they look,” he said.

After being shown a photograph of another dog that belonged to Collins, McDonald said the dog was a little underweight but still in good condition.

“He looks like he’s got a good sheen to his coat. That means he’s getting the vitamins he needs,” McDonald said.

The fact that the dogs allowed themselves to be photographed at close range proved they weren’t aggressive, McDonald said.

During McDonald’s testimony, Lee summoned Collins’ son Taylor to the witness stand and asked McDonald if a boy his size could be knocked to the ground and suffer many of the same injuries as Matthew had if he tried to stop a fight among Collins’ dogs.

“When dogs fight, they aren’t concerned with people,” McDonald said. ” ... They will go for whatever’s moving.”

Investigators in the case established that at least one of Collins’ female dogs was in heat. McDonald said he surmises that may have been the cause of the fight.

“They are animals. The strongest instinct they have is the breed instinct ... that’s the reason why you don’t get in the middle of the dogs when they are fighting,” he said.

McDonald also said truly vicious dogs can’t “switch” their personalities on and off. If they were vicious, he said, they would be vicious all the time.

Being in the midst of a dog fight triggered by a female dog in heat is a terrible place to be, said Eldridge Cropper, another witness called to testify by Lee.

“You have to be very, very careful if you have a female in heat with male dogs around,” said Cropper, who bred labradors for 40 years.

“Have you ever stuck your hand in there to stop a fight?” Lee asked.

“Not in the last 35 years,” Cropper said. “If you do, you could lose a hand.”

Collins’ three male dogs considered Collins’ yard and his three females dogs as their property, Cropper said.

“They would perceive as a threat anything or anybody that entered their (domain),” he said. “They would do whatever necessary to rid the threat.”

“Is it an overstatement to say that having a female in heat in their presence would blow their minds?” Lee asked.

“It would blow more than their minds, yes,” Cropper said.

During cross examination, 4th Circuit Deputy Solicitor Kernard Redmond, who is prosecuting the case with Shipp Daniel and Lee Hayes, asked Cropper if he’d ever seen anyone consumed by dogs involved in a fight over a female in heat. Investigators in the case said Matthew had been attacked and eaten by the pack of dogs.

“I say no, I have not seen what you’re alluding to,” Cropper said.

Don Girndt testified as an expert in forensic analysis and said he’d worked one case where dogs had consumed their owner. It happened, however, after the owner had suffered a stroke and fallen dead on the floor. The woman was alone in the home with the animals when she died and was later discovered by her husband.

Girndt, a former State Law Enforcement Division agent, said if he’d been on the scene of the dog mauling, he would have ordered plastic molds of each dog’s teeth. He also would have ordered autopsies on each dog.

The purpose of collecting such evidence, Girndt said, is to either include or exclude an animal or person from being involved in a crime.

Investigators said an aunt had taken Matthew to a neighbor’s house and he left that residence about 5:30 p.m. He was attacked while walking back to his home on Emanuelville Road.

Collins surrendered to deputies two days after they obtained warrants for his arrest.

Collins remains free on a $50,000 bond.

If convicted, he faces as many as eight years in prison.

Count on the Morning News, scnow.com and WBTW News13 to provide you with the verdict as soon as it's handed down.