DNA evidence key issue in dog attack

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The defense claims the key suspect had an alibi. But prosecutors plan to use DNA evidence as proof that they nabbed the right dog. City prosecutors are going to unusual lengths

Tuesday, January 25th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The defense claims the key suspect had an alibi. But prosecutors plan to use DNA evidence as proof that they nabbed the right dog. City prosecutors are going to unusual lengths in an effort to make their case in an October 1998 dog attack on a 74-year-old woman. They allege a pit bulldog owned by Chris Ohman and Vanessa Alexandria Borja mauled Wanda Cox as she finished a morning walk through her neighborhood.

All but 21/2 inches of Ms. Cox's lower left foot was bitten off and doctors reattached one of her ears. Ohman and Borja face misdemeanor charges of harboring a vicious animal and allowing a dog to roam at large. Ohman and Borja have maintained that their dog, Trek, was outside but returned home prior to the attack. They claim other dogs similar in appearance to Trek roamed the neighborhood.

Prosecutor Patrick Boulden declined to describe the DNA evidence but said it was sought to resolve the issue of mistaken identity. The city paid a California company $500 to do the test. City officials claim to have genetically matched animal hair found on Ms. Cox's clothes with saliva from the dog, said Mark Graziano, attorney for Ohman and Borja. The defense plans to conduct its own independent DNA tests to resolve whether the evidence was properly preserved, he said. "And we are hoping the clothing will yield saliva that can be tested against (Trek's) saliva," Graziano said. "As opposed to just random hairs."

A jury trial on the misdemeanor charges was to have begun Monday but was postponed until April 24 at the request of the defense, Boulden said. A municipal judge in December 1998 determined the dog to be vicious and ordered the animal destroyed. Trek has been held at the city animal shelter since the attack, pending the outcome of an appeal by the dog's owners to the state Supreme Court. Since the attack, the city has increased the maximum penalties for harboring a vicious animal. A conviction can bring six months in jail and a $1,200 fine. The maximum fine for permitting an animal to roam at large has been increased to a $750 fine and 90 days in jail.