The trial of a man charged with stabbing a second police dog in the Midway District, a year after he stabbed another police dog, has started with a twist – the man now represents himself as his own attorney.
Jury selection started on Thursday, Nov. 10 in San Diego Superior Court and Dedrick Daknell Jones, 36, and the prosecutor are expected to quiz prospective jurors.
The court is closed Friday for Veterans Day and so opening statements will likely be given Monday or Tuesday of next week. The case was assigned on Nov. 8 to Judge Aaron Katz, who was not the judge who approved Jones acting as his own attorney.
Jones is charged with felony assault upon a police dog, felony animal cruelty, and brandishing a knife at police. He could get 15 years in prison, depending if he gets more time in his first case in which his probation has already been revoked.
Jones has pleaded not guilty and won the right to defend himself in October after another judge ruled he was mentally competent to stand trial. His previous attorney requested the mental competency ruling, saying he didn’t understand how to help his own defense, which may have been why Jones decided to become his own lawyer.
Judges repeatedly warn people not to represent themselves because in general they don’t have the legal training that could assist themselves in trial.
Jury selection was delayed on Nov. 9 after the street clothes he ordered did not arrive in court.
Jones was living in a tent on a sidewalk in the 3700 block of Riley Street in the Midway District when he had an altercation with a police dog on Dec. 17, 2021. Police officers were responding to a business owner’s complaint about Jones.
Jones is accused of pulling a knife and stabbing Hondo, 2-3 inches in the chest, but the canine made a full recovery and went back on duty 1 1/2 weeks later, according to police.
At the time, Jones was on probation for stabbing another police dog, Titan, who lost 6-8 inches of his colon and had to have 100 stitches to close his wound after an operation in another incident in the Midway District on Jan. 25, 2021.
Jones pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty with a knife and resisting arrest. He was sentenced to a year in jail on two years probation.
Jones remains in jail without bail.
