Kennel Case Figures Skip Jury Option

Kennel operators Jeanette and Swen Bergman, accused of abusing 140 dogs, have decided to defend themselves in front of a judge instead of two juries.

The trial will be conducted by the same judge who earlier this week rejected all of their arguments to throw out the evidence against them.

The couple and their attorneys are looking past the trial to an appeal. “It saves you a ton of time and it gets you to the same place,” Dennis Scott, Jeanette Bergman’s attorney, said of the bench trial. “If we’re right on the (evidence) suppression issues, then let’s get it kicked upstairs where it needs to be.”

However, Scott added, “By no means do we concede that we’re going to be convicted on these offenses.”

He and other defense attorneys had been talking about delaying the trial so they could go to Superior Court to appeal Pend Oreille District Court Judge Chuck Baechler’s denial Tuesday of their motions to suppress key evidence.

But Prosecutor Tom Metzger refused to go along with the delay.

Metzger and Scott said they did agree to delay the trial from Monday to Wednesday, though, while they try to work out agreements to shorten the trial.

Two six-person juries were to hear most of the evidence simultaneously before parting to render separate verdicts for the two defendants.

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