A judge called a subpoena of the Story County attorney ridiculousΠin an animal neglect case against an ISU zoology faculty member on Wednesday.

Judge Stephen VanMarel decided Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes doesn’t have to give expert testimony when Joseph Viles¡ trial begins Thursday.

On Wednesday, Viles appeared in court with his attorney Mark Greiner to fight a motion that would quash a subpoena served to Holmes late last week, which would have forced him to testify on Viles¡ behalf.

Viles claimed Holmes would bring a dog to work with him and leave it in the car. Viles said this qualified Holmes to testify that leaving a dog in the car is not dangerous.

Viles has been accused of leaving two dogs in his car on July 8 in the court parking lot on a hot day. On Thursday, he faces two counts of animal neglect charges.

Mr. Viles has been charged with a crime for certain behaviors that the county attorney has himself engaged in,Œ Greiner said. If the county attorney had engaged in the exact same behavior, he must have formed an opinion on when it is OK to do that.Œ

VanMarel listened to statements by Greiner and Assistant County Attorney Dan Rothman and decided whether or not [Holmes has] ever brought his dogs to work or left them in his truckΠwould be irrelevant.

None of that is remotely relevant to whether or not Mr. Viles is in violation of state or county code,ΠVanMarel said.

He granted the motion to suppress the subpoena. It¡s so irrelevant, it¡s ridiculous to have Mr. Holmes here to testify about whether his opinion is legal or illegal,Œ VanMarel said.

Greiner said there had to be a point at which the behavior would have been illegal for the attorney.

This is not Viles¡ first charge of animal neglect.

He was found guilty of beating a dog on Sept. 3 and was sentenced to a 30-day suspended sentence, a $500 fine and no more than a year probation. In addition, Viles is no longer allowed to own or maintain dogs in the state of Iowa.

On more than 15 separate occasions, Viles has been convicted or found in violation of animal-related charges.