LOCK HAVEN - Edward Bendik, 34, had his most recent effort to overturn his 2016 convictions for Cruelty to Animals, Burglary, Criminal Trespass, Reckless Burning, and Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer denied Thursday in an Opinion issued by Clinton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael F. Salisbury.  Bendik remains incarcerated in a State Correctional Institution for a maximum term of up to 43 years.

Bendik sought a new trial in his most recent attempt to overturn his convictions.  He claimed that his conviction was the result of ineffective assistance of counsel during his first trial.  Bendik's claims included allegations that the Commonwealth, represented by District Attorney Dave Strouse at trial, admitted inflammatory and prejudicial evidence at his trial, which ultimately deprived him of a fair trial.  Specifically, Bendik claimed that Strouse should not have been permitted to show the jury several photographs of the small dog's remains when it was discovered burning in the dumpster behind Bendik's apartment.  The remains were originally found by city firefighters who responded to an emergency call of a large blaze behind an apartment building along East Water Street in November of 2015.  Bendik also claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to admit other evidence that Bendik claimed was favorable to him at trial.

In his Opinion denying Bendik's petition, Salisbury wrote the evidence at trial as "overwhelming" and found that none of the alleged "failures" by trial counsel would have changed the outcome at trial.