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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, September 21, 2007

Mistrial in killing of Hawaii pet pig

Advertiser Staff

A mistrial was declared yesterday after a jury could not reach a verdict in the Mililani pet pig killing case after two days of deliberation.

Joseph B. Calarruda V, accused of felony theft of livestock, will be retried on Dec. 3 before Circuit Judge Richard Pollack.

Calarruda faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said Calarruda was the pig hunter who followed his dogs onto the private land last Oct. 22 and watched as the dogs killed a 6-year-old pet pig.

Several witnesses placed Calarruda at the scene, and the renter living on the lychee farm with the 300-pound pig, Porky, identified Calarruda as the person who watched as several dogs mauled the pig to death, prosecutors said.

Michael Chabala, the renter on the farm, told police that he begged the hunter to call off his dogs, telling him the pig was a pet, not a wild animal.

However, Calarruda's girlfriend, Rickelle Sylva, and another friend both testified that Calarruda was not at the scene when the pig was killed.