Judge Finds Sufficient Evidence for Man to Stand Trial in Alleged Dog-Slaughtering Case

Joseph Byrnes

As SF Weekly has reported previously, eyewitnesses claim Byrnes hacked at his pit bull, Nickel, with an axe outside of the Immaculate Conception Church on Aug. 9. Police claim they found Byrnes, 41, within, nude and slathered with blood while crouched over the mortally wounded dog. The arresting officers report Byrnes told them "The devil was in my dog. I had to get the devil out."

The testimony of four witnesses convinced Judge Paul Alvarado that the necessary thresholds of evidence had been met, and Byrnes will face trial on burglary and animal cruelty charges.

Assistant District Attorney Kelly Burke called a civilian eyewitness, Officer Eugene Paras of the San Francisco Police Department, Animal Control officer Eleanor Sadler and veterinarian R. Bing Dilts, who performed a necropsy on Nickel the dog.

Pretrial hearings such as this do not usually last two days, but Deputy Public Defender Daro Inouye hadn't yet been privy to the necropsy report and requested time to review it.

A number of Byrnes' longtime friends and acquaintances have told SF Weekly that the onetime drummer for the local band The Enablers had fought bouts of mental illness for much of his life. Three years ago the situation grew worse, and three months ago it reached a full-blown crisis.

Byrnes' mental state has not yet become a relevant point in the proceedings according to both Inouye and the District Attorney's office. He is currently jailed in San Francisco -- the Sheriff's Department previously told us that Byrnes was in the "observation" section of the facility. His next court date will be on Sept.10.