LYNN — A jury trial for City Councilor Wayne Lozzi’s animal cruelty case has been set for Oct. 5.
In a three-minute status hearing Monday, William O’Hare, Lozzi’s attorney, and Assistant District Attorney Kevin Hennessey agreed that the discovery process had ended. Both attorneys told Associate Justice Raquel Ruano, who presided over the hearing, that they were prepared to move forward with a trial by jury.
O’Hare told Ruano he was confident the case would go to trial.
After the hearing, Lozzi gave a brief statement outside the courtroom.
“I’m glad it’s reaching this point and I’m confident it will be resolved,” Lozzi said.
Glen Johnson, who represents Essex District Attorney Paul F. Tucker’s office, said the DA’s office is following standard practice in the case.
“We prosecute cases where there is a probable cause of a crime,” Johnson said. “Sometimes, those cases are resolved before trial by mutual agreement of the prosecution and defense, and with the consent of a judge. On other occasions, they proceed all the way to a trial, where a judge or jury will render a verdict.”
Lozzi filed a motion to dismiss the charge in March, but the motion was denied by Judge Kimberly Foster on June 12.
The case stems from home security camera footage of Lozzi walking to his back porch and kicking a cat, which circulated on social media last fall after his son Zachary posted it on Instagram. A criminal complaint for animal cruelty against Lozzi was then filed in January.
The footage shows a cat chasing Lozzi’s cat, Marjorie, on his back porch. Lozzi, in his underwear, then stepped out of the house and kicked the cat that was chasing Marjorie through the air, before it bounced off of the porch railing and landed near a corner rail.
O’Hare argued at the time of Lozzi’s arraignment in February that Lozzi kicked the cat to keep it away from his pet, as he believed Marjorie was being attacked.
In Massachusetts, animal cruelty is a felony charge that carries penalties ranging from a $5,000 fine to seven years in state prison.
Lozzi, who has been the Ward One councilor for 20 years, is not seeking reelection in 2023.
