Missing Dog Case Ends in Mistrial

The case of Cassie--or Lady--the missing 2-year-old black mixed-chow dog, is not over yet.

South Bay Municipal Judge James R. Brandlin declared a mistrial Friday after jurors refused to convict Edie Warwick, a former Lawndale planning commissioner, of taking lost property and interfering with a police investigation. Warwick has been accused of hiding the dog from its rightful owner, Joseph French.

The jury deadlocked with 10 jurors voting to convict and two voting to acquit. The vote left open the possibility for a retrial.

All parties are expected back in court today to learn if the case will be tried again.

The dog is still missing.

The trial lasted almost a week with testimony from sheriff’s officers, a kennel clerk, a veterinarian, officials from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and a Lawndale City Council member. The jury deliberated for 2 1/2 days before deciding it could not unanimously convict Warwick.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ted Lamb said he is in favor of a retrial.

Warwick said she was devastated by the lack of a verdict and the prospect of another trial.

“They’re going to drag me through the legal system until they get what they want,” she said.

Warwick has denied hiding the dog and maintains that she does not know where the animal is.

The mistrial is the latest in a case that has cost Warwick her spot on the city planning commission and landed her husband, Ervin Ladon Warwick, in jail for allegedly intimidating a witness during the trial. He is out on bail and awaiting arraignment on that charge.

The case started in September when Warwick said she found the dog she calls Lady wandering in a Lawndale neighborhood. She took out a “found dog” ad in the local newspaper. Lawndale resident Joseph French, who lost a dog named Cassie, responded to the ad. But Warwick was not convinced that French was the owner and refused to give the dog up.