News

Judge declares mistrial after courthouse therapy dog wanders into room with jurors. Here’s why

Published: Mar. 06, 2026, 7:06 p.m.
By John Beauge | Special to PennLive

LOCK HAVEN—A dog on Friday caused a mistrial in the criminal trial of a Dauphin County man accused of killing a dog owned by neighbors at his hunting cabin.

Judge Michael F. Salisbury declared the mistrial Friday after the courthouse therapy dog, a black lab, inadvertently got into room where jurors in the trial of Robert W. Wallish III were gathering following their lunch break. ... The Hummelstown man is charged with killing a neighbor’s yellow-mix lab in 2024 while staying at his Clinton County cabin.

The therapy dog named Clark was in the courthouse Friday with his probation office handler. ... Its leash was dropped and it went into the jury room where it mingled with and was petted by jurors.

Upon being told of what occurred, Salisbury called defense attorney Sarah Marie Lockwood and District Attorney David Strouse into his chambers to discuss an “issue of concern.” ... After briefing Wallish, Lockwood moved for a mistrial. Strouse had asked for a polling of the jurors and suggested a curative instruction could avoid a mistrial.

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