Suppressing video in Hiller ma

A Fayette County man accused of animal cruelty for alleged dog fighting wants evidence in the case suppressed, including a video that depicts an alleged dog fight.

James E. Holcomb Jr., 32, of Hiller, is charged by state police with two counts of cruelty to animals. He was one of three men charged in 2008 in an alleged dog-fighting ring in Brownsville.

Holcomb appeared in court Tuesday with his attorney, Charity Krupa Grimm of Smithfield, on a motion to suppress evidence and statements in the dog-fighting case.

In addition, he is seeking to suppress evidence in three other cases that involve charges for drugs, terroristic threats and driving under the influence.

In a criminal complaint, police allege they discovered evidence of dog fighting while serving an arrest warrant on Holcomb on Feb. 19, 2008, at a home on Shelton Avenue in Brownsville.

A pit bull at the house had scarring on its face, leg, shoulders and neck, according to the affidavit.

Police allege they found a dog-fighting pit in the basement and items used for dog fighting, including bite sticks and weights, in the house.

During yesterday's hearing, retired state police Trooper Timothy Knapp testified that Holcomb's mother and his girlfriend gave him cell-phone video of a dog fight that allegedly occurred Feb. 7, 2008, at a Hiller residence.

Knapp testified Fendi Fake Handbags the two provided the phone to him during Holcomb's preliminary hearing on drug charges. The drug charges were filed after police, while serving the arrest warrant, allegedly discovered illegal narcotics in the Shelton Avenue residence.

"When you view the video, there are no faces," Knapp testified. "It's just hands and male voices."

Holcomb, according to Knapp, later viewed the video and identified the individuals for police.

Knapp testified he never promised Holcomb that he could avoid criminal charges in exchange for his cooperation.

"I told him that judicial consideration was not for me to offer," Knapp testified. "That would have to come from the district attorney's office."

Judge Gerald R. Solomon did not immediately rule on Grimm's motion.

Holcomb was remanded to the Fayette County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bond.

Court records indicate animal-cruelty charges that had been levied against Mark Anthony Johnson, 40, of Hiller, were disposed of in district court. Johnson entered a guilty plea to disorderly conduct and was sentenced in April to one year of probation by Judge Gerald Solomon.

The third man, Perry Wells, 31, of Lorain, Ohio, is awaiting trial on one count of cruelty to animals.

In addition, he faces trial on drug charges after police allege they found him in possession of cocaine at Holcomb's house on Feb. 19, 2008.

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