Former Bollinger County deputy found not guilty in dog shooting

After a 12-hour trial that went well into the evening, it took a jury just 15 minutes to return a verdict of not guilty for Kelley Barks, a former deputy with the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department who was charged with animal abuse.

Barks, 36, of Marble Hill, Mo., shot a small dog during a domestic dispute call she responded to in February 2011 and was forced to resign from the sheriff's department soon after. She maintains she put the dog down after it attacked her only because she was instructed to do so by the Bollinger County veterinarian.

Barks has a separate civil suit pending against the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department alleging employment discrimination, retaliation and Sunshine Law violations. She filed a complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, after she says she was forced to resign. She was granted the right to sue her former employer Feb. 16.

On Feb. 24, Barks was charged by Bollinger County Prosecutor Stephen Gray with animal abuse just before the one-year statute of limitations expired.

After the prosecution called eight witnesses to the stand Friday, Barks testified in her own defense.

According to a statement sent Saturday by her attorney, Bryan Greaser, Barks testified that she was responding to the residence on a domestic dispute call for the second night in a row. Upon arriving at the rural Bollinger County residence, she and another officer took the suspect into custody, then began to clear the residence of 11 loaded firearms. As Barks was clearing the residence, the subject's dogs were inside, and one of them was being aggressive toward her. It eventually bit her on the back of the leg. Moments later, the dog, which appeared to be a Chihuahua/dachshund mix, again became aggressive, snarled and charged Barks.

Barks testified that despite the small size of the dog, she was fearful because the dog had already bitten her once, and was attempting to do so again. She said she was worried about the dog's health due to the unsanitary conditions of the residence, and that to protect herself from any risk of rabies or disease, she pulled out her service weapon and shot the dog, wounding it. The dog was eventually killed.

Greaser said he was pleased with the verdict, saying the jury's short deliberation after such a long day of testimony put an exclamation point on Barks' innocence.

"The killing of this dog was an extremely unfortunate occurrence, not a single person would deny that, but Barks committed no crime in protecting herself from this animal. There was simply no criminal intent," Greaser said. "No matter the size of the dog, dogs have teeth, and all dogs, no matter the size or breed, can carry rabies, and Barks had a legitimate fear that her health and well being was in jeopardy, and the jury found that this was a lawful killing."

Barks' attorney in her employment discrimination civil suit, J.P. Clubb, said they are fully engaged in the discovery process, but aren't receiving much cooperation from Bollinger County authorities. Barks has sent discovery requests to Bollinger County Sheriff Leo McElrath and Gray, but both have refused to provide certain documents and recordings, even some Gray used at Kelley's criminal trial, Clubb said.

A deposition of McElrath is scheduled for Aug. 30 and 31.

"The jury's verdict in the criminal case is further evidence that the animal abuse charge against Kelley Barks was filed for the purpose of retaliating against her," Clubb said. "Although she was found not guilty, the sheriff's conduct in firing her and the filing of this charge caused damage to an otherwise unblemished law enforcement career. We're looking forward to letting another jury decide how Kelley can best be compensated for those damages."

A call Saturday to McElrath wasn't immediately returned.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

Marble Hill, Mo.