By MELISSA N. WARREN / Review Appeal Staff Reporter

Jennifer Siliski (center) confers with attorneys Rebecca Byrd (left) and Kenneth J. Sanney Friday night at the conclusion of Siliski’s animal cruelty trial. (Jim Rodriguez / Staff)

The courtroom was packed and silent as a jury of five women and seven men returned a verdict of guilty on 11 counts for dog breeder Jennifer Siliski after 11 hours of deliberation.

Siliski, 47, faced 30 counts of animal cruelty — 14 counts for neglect, 14 counts for torture and two counts for abandonment. The charges on which she was found guilty each carry a fine of $2,500. The maximum jail time to which Siliski could be sentenced is 11 months, 29 days on each count.

The case against the dog breeder stemmed from a Jan. 22, 2004, raid in which 241 animals were confiscated from her 2235 Bowman Road home kennel.

That raid set the stage for a battle some call “more fierce than a murder case.” The main players — the DAs office, Siliski’s defense attorneys, local politicians, Williamson County Animal Control and the hundreds of volunteer care givers for the animals — have spent the past seven months preparing for Aug. 18, the first day of the trial. And, while the verdict was expected by Friday of last week, closing arguments did not finish until this Thursday, leaving the jury to deliberate for one hour that evening and all day yesterday.

“The jury will work until 4:45, go home for a dinner break until 6:30 and work until whenever,” Judge R. E. Lee Davies said at 3:30 p.m. yesterday. Prior to that, jury members had reentered the courtroom twice, both times because they had questions about a video filmed the night of the raid.

The jury also asked the judge if they were to consider the living conditions found specifically on Jan. 22 in the room where newborn puppies had been kept. The specification of that date was a point the defense had driven home during closing arguments.

“Look at these words right here,” said Rebecca Byrd, Siliski’s attorney, as she placed the jury charge on an overhead projector. “On Jan. 22, 2004 ... the health of the animals was fine.”

However, the prosecution claimed the house was, in fact, in “deplorable” conditions that night and veterinarians did find some 15 diseases among the animals.

“Only a dog goes to its death with a lick to its murderer’s hand,” Deputy District Attorney Derek Smith said during closing statements. “If you find Ms. Siliski guilty, these dogs will never know. If you do find her guilty, they’ll never know.”

And while the dogs may not know, the dog lovers who have cared for them do.

As the 50 or more pro-prosecution spectators waited for the verdict, Williamson County Animal Control volunteer Mary Wherry asked the group to bow their heads in a moment of silence.

After court was dismissed, the crowd of spectators erupted into cheers as Smith listed which specific animals would not be returned to Siliski.

“Michelle! Lollipop! Simon!” they cried. The district attorney’s office said they appreciated the countless hours of time put in by the volunteers, many who have barely left the courthouse since last week. In total, 397 people offered their time since the raid, and at least 15,500 hours have been donated for the care of the animals.

“This doesn’t affect the disposition of the animals,” assistant DA Braden Boucek said of the mixed verdict. “We only needed one indicted dog to be found as neglected to ask the judge to remove all of them. They will stay in limbo until the sentencing hearing.”

That sentencing hearing will be Sept. 13, with Davies presiding. The judge asked both the defense and prosecution to submit a brief or pleading on the disposition of the animals, any restitution the state may seek and ideas about incarceration, probation or alternative sentencing.

As the spectators headed to celebrate, they said the dogs, not incarceration, are their top priority. Meanwhile, Siliski’s defense team walked quietly towards its office. Mark Waters, one of the attorneys, refused to comment.

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