Dog triggers deadly dispute.

In Ault, Colorado, on November 2, 2003, a feud between neighbors about a barking dog turned deadly. It began when someone used a pellet gun to shoot and seriously wound Mojo, a miniature pinscher owned by Richard and Diane Hammock. Because a neighbor, Eric Griffin, had earlier complained about the dog's barking, Mr. Hammock assumed that he was the culprit.

The Hammocks took their injured pet to a veterinarian, who confirmed that a pellet had pierced the dog's lungs and lodged in its side. X-rays also revealed a pellet in its hindquarters from a previous shooting.

Leaving the dog at the vet's, the couple returned home at about 6:30 p.m. Mr. Hammock asked his wife to call police so a report could be filed, which she did. Convinced, however, that Griffin was the shooter, he then grabbed a three-foot-long piece of lumber, went to the Griffin home, and began pounding on the front door.

Griffin went to the door and argued briefly with Hammock. Griffin then told Hammock to go away, locked the door, and armed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun. Hammock refused to leave, and began threatening to burn the Griffins out of their home. He then started smashing the glass window panes in the door with his wooden club. At that point, Griffin fired a single blast through the door, striking Hammock in the chest. Mortally wounded, he was pronounced dead at a medical center later that evening.

Griffin was initially jailed on suspicion of second-degree murder, but was released on November 8. Four days later, the county district attorney announced that no charges would be filed against Griffin due to the state's homeowner-friendly, anti-intruder statute. The law specifies in part that "... any occupant of a dwelling is justified in using any degree of physical force, including deadly physical force, against an other person when that other person has made an unlawful entry into the dwelling, and when the occupant has a reasonable belief that such other person has committed a crime in the dwelling in addition to the uninvited entry, or is committing or intends to commit a crime against a person or property in addition to the uninvited entry, and when the occupant reasonably believes that such other person might use any physical force, no matter how slight, against any occupant."

Police found pellet guns in the Griffin home, but could not link them to Mojo's shooting. The county attorney told reporters that Griffin would not be charged in the incident due to a lack of evidence.