Still hearing testimony without the jury's presence

(I misspelled Jonni Joyce's first name, so I have gone through and corrected that.)

Jonni Joyce sat in court yesterday. She listened to Roy McNeil's testimony and she took notes. Today, the master dog handler testified that it is her opinion McNeil does not qualify as a cadaver dog handler, let alone an expert witness. Joyce has 20 years experience with law enforcement and dog handling. She is a master trainer with the International Police Work Dog Association. She's written handouts and manuals and taught many seminars. She questioned several of McNeil's practices. She said the first rule she learned of dog handling was documentation. It's not only important for court cases, but also to monitor the progress of the dog. In her opinion, Joyce says volunteer search and rescue handlers are not as organized as law enforcement. Yesterday McNeil said his dogs have several behaviors to indicate a cadaver odor. Such examples are sitting, lying down, pawing at the spot, foaming at the mouth or nosing for a treat. Jonni Joyce testified this morning that's not reliable. She says so many actions to indicate an odor is just a way to get a reward, a treat.

Again, the jury is not present for any of this. All the testimony is to determine the expertise of McNeil and if he should testify to some, all or none about his dogs' searches in front of the jury. Joyce is still on the stand. The prosecution has not had its chance to question her. Hopefully, we will hear Judge Cayer's decision by lunch. I'll be back.