A Greenburgh man accused of killing a stranger’s beloved Shih Tzu by hurling it to the pavement was found not guilty following a three-day trial in which the defense insisted the dog’s owner had misidentified the culprit.
Jurors acquitted Cory Eulin of all counts on Friday morning, May 22, including the single felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals. A day earlier, on their first full day of deliberations, they had indicated they were deadlocked and wanted more instructions about reasonable doubt from Westchester Judge Melissa Loehr.
On Dec. 19, 2024, Edison Prieto was walking his Shih Tzu named Sisi on Manhattan Avenue in Greenburgh when a man approached and began engaging with the dog. After Prieto urged Sisi to continue their walk, the man seemed to walk away but then turned around, grabbed Sisi by her neck and hurled the dog into the street.
Sisi was unconscious and bleeding from the mouth and nose. When a horrified Prieto picked her up and yelled at her attacker, the man swung at Prieto but missed before leaving the scene, Prieto testified.
Eulin was taken into custody in a building down the block where police found he matched the description given by Prieto of a Black man wearing black clothing. An officer drove Prieto over to confirm they had the right culprit, a so-called ‘show-up ID’ that the defense assailed because one of the officers had just told Prieto “we think we got the guy”.
“He never saw the face for a long enough time to overcome the suggestiveness,” defense lawyer Angelo MacDonald told the jury, insisting there was plenty of reasonable doubt about the identification to acquit his client.
But Assistant District Attorney Alexander Shapiro focused in closing arguments on the ample opportunity Prieto had to get a good look at Sisi’s killer and that his accounts that day and at trial were consistent.
“His demeanor, his consistency are all indicative of a man telling the truth,” Shapiro said.
Prieto had told police that before Sisi’s attacker approached he had been laughing with another man across Manhattan Avenue. That man was never identified and there was no video of the attack on the dog.
Eulin did not testify and the defense called no witnesses. He was also found not guilty of misdemeanor charges of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals, third-degree menacing and third-degree attempted assault; and a violation, second-degree harassment.
“I have to compliment the jury for recognizing the deficiency in the identification of my client as the perpetrator of this crime,” MacDonald told The Journal News/lohud in a text message Friday. “As we all know, the burden of proof is on the government to prove someone’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that includes the person’s identity.”
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Not-guilty verdict in Greenburgh dog-toss death
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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