A final hearing was held Friday to decide whether charges would move forward against a man accused of attacking a dog last year.

The case against John Riordan, a 48-year-old West Virginia resident, was originally made at the district level during an October preliminary hearing in Chicora,

At the time, former Assistant District Attorney Russ Karl agreed to drop a felony charge state police had filed to a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty and move the case to county court. But District Attorney Richard Goldinger disapproved of the decision and he refiled the initial charges.

Commons Pleas Judge William Shaffer took the case on, acting as a district judge in the matter to decide if the felony aggravated cruelty to animals should be held, dropped or reduced.

The first part of the hearing was held last month and the second was held Friday. At the end of Friday's hearing, Shaffer said he would make a decision after reviewing the case.

During August's hearing, Jason Anthony recounted the Sept. 23 attack on his 12-year-old springer spaniel, Bailey. He told the court that he notified authorities after he returned to his Green Manor Drive home and discovered a bloody mess and a sledgehammer with blood on it. He told police that Riordan had been staying at his house and was the only one there with the dog for the “few hours” he was away.

Anthony said that his dog died March 3 after recovering from the attack. He said veterinarians did not know what was wrong with the dog.

On Friday, state Trooper Francis M. Walters was called by Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope, who is prosecuting the case, to testify about his observations when he responded to Anthony's call to the home on the day of the incident.

“There was blood on the walls, on the doors, a tooth laying on the dining room table,” Walters said. He also noted the dog came up to him when he entered the house with a wagging tail and jumped up on him.

Walters arrested Riordan soon after that for the attack. Riordan's lawyer, Michael Zunder, asked the lawyer who decided to file a felony charge instead of a misdemeanor of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Walters said that he had decided to file the felony.

Asked why he did that, Walters said, “Because of the serious injury we thought the dog had at the time.”

Zunder noted that records from a veterinarian after the attack showed the dog was missing teeth and had a swollen snout but nothing more, suggesting the dog didn't suffer any serious injuries.

Aside from the felony assault, Riordan faces misdemeanors of driving under the influence and cruelty to animals along with a summary traffic offense.