Court Date Next Week For Man Accused of Hacking Dog to Death in San Francisco Church

Joseph Byrnes

​SF Weekly has documented the strange and sad saga of Joseph Byrnes, the San Francisco musician charged in August with hacking his dog to death with an axe in Bernal Heights' Immaculate Conception Church. Police claim they found Byrnes nude and slathered in the blood of his pit bull, Nickel, whom he said he was forced to kill because the animal was demon-possessed.

Byrnes has another day in court next week, when his attorney, deputy public defender Daro Inouye, is scheduled to file a motion to set aside claims of animal cruelty and second-degree burglary on Oct. 14. Assistant District Attorney Brian Buckelew, who is also a spokesman for the DA, said he's confident the motion will be denied: "We really have a pretty solid case." Inouye did not return SF Weekly's calls.

Byrnes' lifelong friends lamented to SF Weekly that the San Franciscan has battled mental illness all his life and is on the tail-end of a disastrous three-year downward spiral that cost him his job, his home, and now his freedom. And yet, the question of Byrnes' mental state on the day he allegedly slaughtered his dog has not yet been broached by the prosecutors or the defense.
 
"It seems that's their ace in the hole," said Buckelew.

If Buckelew's confidence is well-placed and the judge does not set aside the charges, a pre-trial conference for Byrnes is scheduled for Oct. 19 and a jury trial is set to commence on Dec. 4. Should Byrnes be found guilty on all counts, he faces a maximum of three years in prison.