MASON -- A Holt man is now only facing one charge of bestiality after a judge determined there was not enough evidence to prove a second charge.
A preliminary hearing for Michigan State health physicist Joseph Hattey was continued to Thursday to see if there was probable cause to prove a photo showing a man sodomizing a dog was Hattey.
The Michigan Attorney General's Office alleges Hattey penetrated a dog with both his hand and penis. They do not allege he conducted sex acts on campus, or with any university-owned animals.
Two photos found during a search of Hattey's computer and phone show a man penetrating a dog, but doesn't show the face or head of the person or dog. Investigators said the man has the "same general body type" as Hattey, and the dog has the "same distinctive fur pattern" as a basset hound seized from Hattey's home.
Although 55th District Judge Thomas Boyd said the photograph was a "rather distasteful display of bestiality," he determined that the dog in the photo and the Hattey's dog were not the same before dismissing a second count of sodomy.
In June, Patrick O'Keefe, Hattey's attorney, said his client had a large tattoo on his right calf, something that is not visible in the photo. After Thursday's ruling, O'Keefe said it was not surprising that Boyd dismissed the charge.
"There's not enough evidence to show my client sodomized his dog," O'Keefe said.
Boyd ruled there was probable cause for the first count of bestiality, based on testimony that Hattey had genital contact with the dog and reached around toward the dog's anus before it ran away.
Maxx Rapp testified that Hattey responded to a Craigslist ad Rapp posted about "restless" animals. Rapp said he witnessed Hattey having sexual contact with the dog while he was at Hattey's home in January. A veterinary examination showed the dog had suffered anal trauma, but could not determine if it was sexual in nature.
Rapp's "personally embarrassing" testimony was tremendously credible, Boyd said.
All of Thursday's testimony centered around whether there was enough evidence that Hattey was the man in the photograph.
Edward Gostomski, a forensic photographer who recreated the photos for the Attorney General's office, testified that he couldn't say definitively that the photo was of Hattey, but he also couldn't say that it wasn't.
With the angle of the photo of the man and dog, Gostomski said it wasn't possible to tell if there was a tattoo shown. The quality of the photo was poor, he said, and it wasn't possible to tell if a dark spot in the photo was a tattoo or a shadow.
Boyd took the recreated photographs, and the original photo found with Hattey's possessions, and decided the photos were not enough proof to say Hattey sodomized his dog.
Hattey's case will be moved to the Ingham County Circuit Court, where he will be arraigned on one count of sodomy on July 18.
Contact Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.
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