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Update 4/16/18: CVN received word that the case against an Atlanta area dog owner over bites a seven-year old suffered at a children's playground has settled. Terms of any settlement were not immediately available. CVN will provide further information as it becomes available.
Atlanta—Trial is scheduled to begin next week against a dog owner whose German Shepherd is accused of attacking a 7-year-old girl at an Atlanta-area playground. Wright v. Cranman and Azima, 15EV000089.
According to documents filed in the case, Annaleigh Wright was bitten on her face and abdomen while playing in the children’s area of Marietta's East Cobb Park in November 2014. The attack, according to documents, will leave the child with some permanent scarring, despite potential scar revision surgery in the future.
The child’s mother, plaintiff Kristie Wright, represented by Wood, Craig & Avery’s Harlan Wood, contends the dog was leashed to a fence and not properly supervised at the time of the attack. Wright claims that the dog’s co-owner, Mahelah Azima, had told her the dog was territorial and had bitten another person two years earlier.
Wood is expected to seek punitive damages as well as compensatories and attorney fees, according to the case’s pre-trial order.
Azima, represented by Darryl G. Haynes, of the Law Offices of James C. McLaughlin, claims Annaleigh Wright was left unattended while her mother took her other children to the restroom, and that the child provoked the dog to attack.
Trial, before Fulton County State Court Judge Jay Roth, is expected to last between 2-3 days. CVN will broadcast the trial live.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
Related Information
Kristie Wright is represented by Wood, Craig & Avery’s Harlan Wood.
Mahelah Azima is represented by Darryl G. Haynes, of the Law Offices of James C. McLaughlin.
CVN Video Library Subscribers can watch the trial live.