A Wood County woman, charged with obstruction after stepping in front of a State Police trooper who had his gun pointed at her dog, was acquitted by a jury this week.
It took jurors about 30 minutes on Monday to find Tiffanie Hupp, 23, of Waverly, not guilty of obstructing an officer, according to Hupp and her attorney David Schles, of Charleston. The charge was filed against Hupp on May 9, 2015 after an incident with Trooper Seth Cook on Carpenter Run Road.
Cell phone video taken by Hupp's husband, Ryan, circulated on the Internet several weeks after the incident. That video played an important role in the trial, Schles said.
"A little chubby white dog ran toward [Cook], barking," Schles said, explaining the video he showed jurors. The trooper "pulls his gun on the dog and is holding it in a posture that looks like he was prepared to shoot the dog. Tiffanie runs in between the cop and the dog. She is just standing there. The officer alleged in the complaint that she raised her arm, but we did stop-frame [of the video] for the jury and it showed she was stationary, her arms at her side.
"All she said was 'Don't do that' and [the trooper] grabbed her by the bicep and spun her around and she ends up falling down," Schles said.
Troopers were at the house after receiving a call about a dispute between neighbors, Schles said. Clifford Myers, Ryan Hupp's stepfather, had been in an argument with his neighbor at a nearby gas station, Tiffanie Hupp said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Cook followed Myers' daughter as she walked toward the house to get her father's driver's license, according to Hupp. That's when he was met by "Buddy," a Labrador-husky mix who, Hupp said, "is a big baby. Buddy was at the end of his chain and couldn't go any further in the yard when he met Cook.
"I immediately thought, 'I don't want him to get shot,'" recalled Hupp, who was outside with her 3-year-old son.
Wood County Magistrate Joyce Purkey appointed Parkersburg attorney Lora Snodgrass to represent Hupp, but Purkey later denied Hupp's request for a different attorney after she learned that Snodgrass is married to a State Police trooper.
Schles learned of the incident through an animal law subcommittee of the West Virginia State Bar, which sent out an email containing the cell phone video of the incident.
"I thought it was outrageous this girl is being charged for standing in her yard doing nothing but saying, 'Don't shoot my dog,'" said Schles. He agreed to represent Hupp for free.
Schles said he assumed prosecutors in Wood County would agree to dismiss the obstruction charge. Prosecutors in the case couldn't be reached Tuesday, nor could Cook, who testified during Monday's trial, Schles said. Lawrence Messina, spokesman for the state Division of Military Affairs and Public Safety, did not return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
"You're not obstructing an officer under West Virginia law unless you hinder or obstruct an officer who is performing official duties. Pointing a gun at a dog on a chain is not official duties," Schles said he told jurors.
Also, Schles told jurors on Monday, as long as someone is acting lawfully - even if they do obstruct an officer - it is not illegal.
"For instance," he said, "you have a First Amendment right to say 'don't shoot my dog.' It is defiant, if you want to look at it that way, but it's still a free country."
Hupp said she's relieved jurors found her not guilty and said she trusts the criminal justice system.
"I'm glad it's over with. I know it sounds corny, but now I know what justice feels like and it feels pretty darn good," she said. "I've heard stories of people having trouble with the system and I never thought I would have to go through it because I don't do anything stupid."
She said the video her husband took of the incident didn't surface until several weeks later because Cook took his cell phone, along with several others.
"We called [police] and said we know it's on there, just to hope they didn't delete it," Hupp said. "I've never had a problem with officers before. I'm a little nervous around them now."
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.