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Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Macon City Council president pleads guilty in dog case

Macon City Council President Miriam Paris pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of failing to restrain a dog.

The charge stemmed from a May 9 incident in which Paris was given a citation outside her Suwanee Avenue home for failure to restrain her dog and resisting or interfering with an officer. A postal worker had flagged down a police officer to complain after Paris’ dog allegedly chased the postal worker.

Thursday’s proceedings in Macon Municipal Court were virtually inaudible. Paris’ lawyer later explained that Paris was ordered to pay a $200 fine.

Paris didn’t receive special treatment in her sentence, said her lawyer, J. Anderson Ramay Jr. The typical fine for failing to restrain a dog, he said, is $70.

Paris pleaded guilty as part of a stipulated plea agreement because she wanted to put the episode behind her and move on, Ramay said. The resisting or interfering with an officer charge was dismissed.

“We’re really glad for it to be over,” Paris said, adding that she wants to get on with handling the city’s business. “The main point is that it’s over.”

Paris apologized to her constituents for any “discomfort or disruption” that the incident caused.

She paid her fine and court costs soon after she was sentenced.

Paris said she has a fenced yard and she didn’t see that the dog was loose when she went out to talk to her mail carrier that day.

“The dog just got out that day, allegedly,” she said.

Ramay said one of Paris’ neighbors has a dog identical to Paris’ pet, and it’s possible the dog in question wasn’t Paris’ dog.

According to an officer’s report, a mail carrier flagged him down to tell him that a black dog from Paris’ Suwanee Avenue home had been chasing her.

When the postal worker contacted Paris, the council president began yelling at the woman and suggested that she needed to find a new career if she couldn’t handle a dog, the report said.

After sending the postal worker to continue her route, the police officer said he advised Paris of the city’s leash law. She asked to see it, so he returned to his office, made copies of the law and brought them back. By that time, the officer wrote, a small dog that Paris owned was “running around defecating in other people’s yards.”

In his report, the officer said he offered copies of the law to Paris, but she said she already had one. At that point, the officer said he asked Paris if she was a member of City Council.

Paris initially refused to show the officer her identification, he said, but she later gave the officer her ID.

Information from The Telegraph’s archives was used in this report. To contact reporter Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.