MS man charged in dog theft & retaliation pleads for judge to spare his pet. It was too late.
A Kiln man who allegedly stole his dog from an animal shelter before it could be euthanized cried and pleaded Thursday for time to get an attorney to fight for his vicious pit bull to be spared.
Norman Leslie Archer Jr., 59, made the appeal when he was brought into Hancock County Court before Judge Trent Farve on Thursday on felony charges that include allegations of retaliating against another judge in the aftermath of a euthanasia order.
Farve told Archer he was there instead for an initial appearance on charges of commercial burglary, theft of a dog and retaliation against a public official.
What Archer didn’t know yet was that he was pleading for something that would never happen.
Hancock County prosecuting attorney Olen Anderson said Archer’s pit bull named Diesel was euthanized in the hours after U.S. Marshals arrested him early Wednesday evening. The Sun Herald held off on reporting this story to give authorities time to tell Archer that his dog was dead.
Archer was picked up after a family member urged him to surrender to authorities after he stole his dog and fled. He had the pit bull with him at the time of his arrest.
At Thursday’s hearing, Farve set Archer’s total bond at $12,500 and ordered him to stay away from Justice Court Judge Desmond Hoda’s home and property. Hoda issued the Nov. 2 euthanasia order.
Archer is accused of breaking into the animal shelter and stealing his dog back on Saturday.
The next day, Hoda’s family found their 8-year-old German Shepherd named Achilles dead of suspected poisoning. New court filings say that camera footage captured Archer driving up on the judge’s property and calling Achilles over to him.
Hoda’s family searched for their dog until they found him dead on the property later the following day.
In court, Archer, who has one leg and uses a wheelchair, said, “I didn’t kill the dog.”
However, new court filings say Archer had threatened to harm the judge’s dog after he issued the euthanasia order, saying things like, “How would he like it if I killed his dog?’”
Farve set a preliminary hearing in the case for later this month.
Anderson said Hancock County officials had done everything they could to let Archer keep his dog, but the dog kept attacking other dogs or people, culminating in a final Oct. 23 mauling of a 6-year-old girl.
To his recollection, Anderson said, the attack on the child happened after an unrestrained Diesel jumped out of a vehicle he was in with Archer and attacked the child. The girl, he said, had just gotten out of a car nearby.
“We worked with him for a year to keep the dog,” Anderson said. “You should see the pictures of (what happened to) that little girl. It had been proven to be a vicious animal. We are just lucky he (the pit bull) didn’t kill anybody.”
Archer and his family say Diesel was protective but gentle and not a vicious animal.
This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 1:12 PM.
