Woman pleads no contest to charges related to dog attack

LISBON -- Dog attack survivor Penny Brown asked a judge to protect her Lake Tomahawk community during the sentencing for the woman who let the two dogs who attacked her run loose last May.

Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Danielle Menning responded Wednesday by telling defendant Jill A. Brothers she can't have any companion dogs on her property.

No dogs in her house, no dogs in her yard and no dogs of relatives or friends anywhere on her property as a term of probation.

Any violation could result in consequences, including serving the suspended jail time.

"That 60 days will be hanging over your head while you're on probation," Menning said.

Brothers, 63, Tomahawk Drive, Negley, was scheduled for a pretrial, but the two sides came to an agreement. She pleaded no contest and was found guilty of two counts each of charges of violating vicious, dangerous, nuisance dog acts, a third-degree misdemeanor, and duties after dog bites person, quarantine, a minor misdemeanor.

Menning followed the recommendation of county Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Bonish for the sentence: fines of $500 each for the third-degree misdemeanors and $100 each for the minor misdemeanors for a total of $1,200 in fines, two suspended 60-day jail terms, and an order to complete 60 hours of community service, with no buy-out option. She'll be on probation for four years.

Brown was out for a leisurely walk on May 15 when the two dogs attacked her in the area of Tomahawk Drive, with a Beaver Local school bus there which stopped to assist Brown and get her on the bus away from the dogs.

Bonish said the third-degree misdemeanor charge stemmed from Brothers letting the two dogs leave her property and inflict physical harm on the victim. The minor misdemeanor charges were for failing to quarantine the two dogs as ordered after the incident. The dog that belonged to Brothers, named Milo, was eventually humanely euthanized. The other dog, named Beau, was just visiting and was owned by her daughter Laurel of Youngstown. That dog's status remains unknown by local officials, who have no power to go to Mahoning County to get the dog.

"This is a situation that really is unfortunate for everybody involved," Bonish said.

Brown is still dealing with the fallout from her injuries and the community is in fear of dog attacks in their neighborhood.

"All of this could have been avoided if she had confined those dogs," Bonish said.

She advised the judge that Brown wanted a no contact order put in place so the defendant can't contact her.

Brown addressed the court briefly, saying "I almost died that day."

The sheriff's report described her injuries as extensive to her arms and the back of her head and to her legs. She was flown by helicopter to St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Youngstown for treatment. Brown said somehow the artery in her arm was missed.

"That day when those dogs came at me, I literally lay there thinking, this is it, this is how I'm going to go out," Brown said.

Once she was on the bus, she could hear the students crying. They saw their teacher get attacked by dogs.

That's when she addressed the judge and said, "I'm asking you to protect my community and my students because I love them."

She knew to go down and not run when the attack happened. The kids would have run. Some of them now have contingency plans in place for what to do. She just wanted to go for a walk that day.

"You have the ability to protect all of these people," she said.

Elizabeth Farbman, the attorney representing the Lake Tomahawk Property Owners Association, also addressed the court and said a community is based on trust and Brothers violated that trust by letting vicious dogs run loose, prompting an objection from defense attorney Amato, who said that can be argued during the pending civil case that's expected to be filed by Brown.

Menning let Farbman continue. Farbman said the community is angry and afraid and asked the judge to prohibit Brothers from having any companion animals. She noted if she's not going to respect the order of the court, she's not going to respect the community.

Brothers also briefly addressed the court, with Amato explaining she wanted to call the victim to apologize before but was told not to do that because of the pending litigation.

"I'm so sorry that this occurred," Brothers said.

After the hearing, when asked for her thoughts about what happened in the courtroom, Brown said, "I'm relieved because my main focus today was on making sure our lake community was safe."

Referring to Brothers, Brown said "because even though she wasn't allowed to have companion animals during the period of the bond, my daughter and I started to walk the lake a little bit, I guess there were still dogs there. There were still dogs there and I didn't know it, so safety was my big concern and protecting my students that live there was my big concern."

A fifth grade teacher at Beaver Local for at least 25 years, she now teaches technology in grades K-5 at the school. The kids who live at Lake Tomahawk are her students and there are a lot of retired people who live there and their grandkids come to visit.

"You don't ever want to see something like this happen to anybody, but if it happened to a child, it would have been devastating," she said.

The day of the attack, four of her students were on the bus and they watched it. The incident happened at the end of the last school year. Brown is back to work for the new school year, back with her students.

"I think it's important for them to see me and see I'm okay," she said.

She's still facing another surgery when bone from her hip will be placed in her right arm. Half the radius in her arm is gone and she has to wear a hard brace. She's also right-handed, which makes it difficult. She's glad to be back at school.

"I'm glad to be healthy enough that I can -- that's a gift. I didn't think I would ever see the classroom again," Brown said.

She didn't want to talk about the potential lawsuit, saying her main goal today was the safety of the community and students.

Farbman said after the hearing that the association is working now on proposing a rule that would allow the community to remove any dog designated dangerous or vicious. She said the community's trying to rebuild trust.

"We are very encouraged by what the judge did today," she said, referring to the order against companion animals for Brothers.

Bonish also talked about the rule against companion animals and said that's something she's sure the neighborhood will be watching out for and reporting any violations.

She said this is a case that the degree of the charges don't in any way provide a punishment that's sufficiently enough for the injuries the victim suffered. She's hopeful the judge's sentence will prevent any injuries from animals owned by Jill Brothers.

The courtroom was packed with people from Lake Tomahawk and with Brown's family. Brothers was also accompanied by someone, but her daughter wasn't present.

The 60 days was the maximum possible penalty for the third-degree misdemeanor charge. The charge related to quarantine duties carries no possible jail time.

Prior to the hearing, the defense filed a motion to adjust the bond requirements to allow Brothers to have companion animals. The motion was to be addressed during the hearing, but that became unnecessary due to the plea.

mgreier@mojonews.com