MINOT, N.D. - A jury has acquitted a Minot man of a felony animal cruelty charge.
State prosecutors had accused 29-year-old James Music of taping a dog's mouth shut, beating, and fatally shooting the animal last October.
The animal’s body was later found in a dumpster.
Music could have faced up to five years in prison if convicted.
It was one of the first instances where a suspect faced the new felony charge since state lawmakers upgraded it from a misdemeanor in 2013.
