Burt Bacharach Dog Attack Case: Judge Unhappy With Media Coverage

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge said Thursday she is inclined to grant Grammy- and Academy Award-winning composer Burt Bacharach and his wife a court win by barring the dissemination of deposition transcripts in a lawsuit brought by a man who alleges the couple's dog attacked him in 2016.

Joel Gayner maintains the couple's canine badly injured two fingers on his left hand while he was pet-sitting for them.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Fujie wrote in a three-page tentative ruling that she was accepting a draft order by defense attorneys that seeks to keep out of the media the testimony of the Bacharachs and others who give depositions in Gayner's lawsuit.

"(The Bacharachs) have presented evidence that information regarding the facts underlying this lawsuit have been disseminated to and published by news outlets literally throughout the world," Fujie wrote.

The judge cited a headline submitted by the Bacharachs' attorneys that she said illustrated the "sensational nature" of the coverage.

"Burt Bacharach Sued -- Your dog bit my fingers off -- Thank God for my Groin," the headline read, according to Fujie.

Fujie said she was not convinced by the Gayner attorneys' counter- argument that depositions are "sittings" of the court that "shall be public."

In their court papers, the Gayner lawyers maintain the Bacharachs have "repeatedly evaded depositions." The plaintiff's attorneys lawyers further argued that there was no need for the order sought by the Bacharachs because Gayner "does not intent to exploit the depositions for personal gain" and because an impartial jury will decide the case.

The judge is scheduled to hear arguments Friday before issuing a final decision.

Gayner sued the 89-year-old composer and his wife, Jane, on March 27, alleging strict liability, premises liability and negligence. Gayner, 73, says he agreed to look after the couple's Portuguese Water Dog -- the same breed owned by former President Barack Obama when he was in the White House -- while the Bacharachs were in Europe in June 2016. He says he did not receive any compensation.

On the morning of July 1, 2016, Gayner says, he awoke to the sound of the dog, Alfie, choking and "losing control of its bowels," and dislodged pieces of a yellow plastic bone that had gotten into the animal's throat.

A short time later, Gayner approached to comfort the dog, which "snapped at Gayner and mauled his left hand, as well as injuring his forearm," his suit alleges.

Gayner was taken to a hospital, where doctors reattached the middle finger of his injured hand, according to the suit. He says his index finger on the same hand was "amputated" by the dog, and doctors had to use a skin graft from his groin to reattach missing portions of the digit.

The plaintiff has permanent damage to both fingers and limited use of his left hand, according to his court papers.

The Bacharachs knew Alfie was a danger, but accepted no blame other than to say they were "so sorry," the suit alleges.

-CNS; Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP