Berry v. Superior Court

Berry (defendant) bought a trained fighting dog, Willy, and lived next to the Soto family, whose young children shared a driveway with him. Berry called Willy a "killer dog," told the family the dog was fenced in, but the enclosure was not complete, and Willy was chained in an area also used to guard roughly 250 marijuana plants. Two-and-a-half-year-old James Soto wandered into that area and was fatally attacked, even though Willy had never attacked a person before. The State (plaintiff) charged Berry with involuntary manslaughter and considered adding second-degree murder; an expert testified fighting-bred pit bulls can attack unpredictably. The trial court found probable cause to proceed, and Berry sought review of that finding.