Mailman says he never pepper-sprayed dog in federal trial over asthma claims

SAN DIEGO (CN) — What began with a family dog barking at a mailman has escalated into a trial in federal court, where a U.S. Postal Service worker on Monday denied claims he repeatedly pepper-sprayed the dog and exposed two young children to chemicals that caused their asthma.

Attorneys representing the Galindo family and their two children presented video evidence of Nestor Medina, a mail carrier, walking to and from the family’s home in the border community of Otay Mesa, California, and purportedly pepper-spraying the dog. Other videos showed a small white dog, Pupa, convulsing on the ground and pawing at its face.

In many of the videos presented Monday, Medina delivers the family’s mail while carrying a small can of pepper spray in his hand as Pupa barks at him on the other side of a metal gate.

The plaintiffs contend Medina unnecessarily and senselessly pepper-sprayed Pupa as he was delivering the mail. The children, who regularly played with Pupa and slept alongside her in their beds, developed asthma as a result of the pepper spray exposure, they argue.

“Unfortunately, there was collateral damage to two very young, very innocent children, who developed asthma, which changed the direction of their lives,” attorney Zachary Wallace, of Casey Gerry LLP, said in opening statements. “That’s what this case is all about: the altered life trajectory of these children.”

However, Department of Justice attorneys say the children developed asthma symptoms through repeated viral infections common to children and were otherwise in good health.

“The evidence will show, as the children have grown older they have gotten sick less frequently — that the children lead active, normal, healthy lives,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Riley said. “What the evidence will show is that the likely cause of respiratory issues was repeated exposure to illnesses over a long time, not the pepper spray.”

The Galindo family sued the federal government for negligence in 2023. Monday marked the first day of a bench trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino, a George W. Bush appointee.

Attorneys took turns scrutinizing the way Medina delivered the mail — from his footsteps, to the direction his shoulders were facing — in several videos the Galindo family’s home security system captured in February and March 2019. In the videos where Medina is not obviously carrying the pepper spray, the dog doesn’t appear to have a reaction, the plaintiffs’ attorneys noted Monday.

Medina later admitted to his supervisor, Ruth Littrell, who also testified, that he did pepper-spray the dog once. However, DOJ attorneys said this admission was only made in an effort to resolve the issue and was not made under oath.

It’s standard practice for mail carriers to bring pepper spray to prevent dog bites, Medina said.

Medina was later fired from his job with the Postal Service and remained out of work for nearly a year. During that time, his family suffered financial difficulties, including repossession of their vehicles.

“Me and my kids had to go to food banks just to have something to eat,” he testified. “We had to take our kids out of the sports they love because we couldn’t afford it anymore.”

He fell into a depression as a result of the job loss, he said, adding that he and his family were harassed by the media.

Through arbitration, Medina got his job back as a mail carrier.

The children’s parents also testified in court.

The videos of Medina are limited to a one-month period in 2019, but the father, Alfonso Galindo, suspects the pepper spraying incidents date back at least to the fall of 2018.

Galindo said he had seen unidentifiable spray patterns on their patio floor for months.

“I started connecting the dots,” he told the court. “I couldn’t believe it. It was a whirlwind of emotions and anger.”

Plaintiffs’ attorneys also showed the court evidence of the affectionate relationship between Pupa and the Galindo children, who were about 1 and 3 years old at the time they became sick.

“The dog is part of the family,” the father said. “Wherever the kids are, the dog follows.”

Both parents said their children have continued to suffer from a recurring cough and similar respiratory issues even today.

In an emotional testimony, the mother, Ana Galindo, said the initial months of the children’s illnesses were extremely difficult for the family because they didn’t know what was going on with them. The children were in and out of urgent care and emergency rooms, she told the court through a Spanish interpreter.

Although the children had been sick in the past, this was different, Ana Galindo said. Both children were coughing in a way that interrupted their sleep, especially their daughter, she said.

But the government’s attorneys pointed out medical records show both children’s conditions have improved in recent years, and there is no mention of asthma in medical records introduced as evidence.

Attorneys are expected to call on medical professionals to testify in the coming days of the trial, which Sammartino said is expected to last through Thursday.