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Lawyers for Prince George's County are asking a judge to drop the civil lawsuit Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo filed over the shooting deaths of his two pet dogs during a mistaken drug raid at his home.

Because deputies involved in the July 29, 2008, raid were acting professionally as law-enforcement officers serving a warrant, the county should not be sued for damages for handcuffing Calvo, his wife and mother-in-law or for shooting and killing the couple's two pet Labrador retrievers, lawyers said.

"It is well-settled that law enforcement officers executing a warrant may detain individuals inside a residence while they carry out their purpose," county attorney Rajesh Kumar wrote in the motion for judgment filed last week.

The raid attracted national headlines and raised concerns about the county's law-enforcement tactics.

Deputies dressed in black with guns executed the search warrant at the Calvo home on July 29 after tracing a package filled with 32 pounds of marijuana addressed to Calvo's wife, Trinity Tomsic. Seconds after entering, deputies shot the couple's two dogs, Payton and Chase.

What authorities didn't know at the time was the package, which was delivered by an undercover detective, was actually meant for the deliveryman, who was later arrested. Though police announced days later Calvo and his wife were cleared in the investigation, county officials never apologized for the incident except to say it was "unfortunate."

In their motion, detectives and deputies wrote they felt threatened by the two dogs who were heard barking and running inside the home when a detective posing as a FedEx deliveryman knocked on the door.

According to the county, deputies were forced to shoot the dogs when Calvo's mother-in-law saw the masked deputies coming and screamed, forcing them to go through the door.

"Defendants did not seek out to ‘execute' [Calvo's] dogs ... rather, the record is to the contrary," Kumar wrote. "The [team] had a plan in place to mace the dogs should they become aggressive or request that the homeowners place them in a room."

But when deputies were forced to enter without knocking, they were justified in shooting the animals, Kumar wrote.

"The fourth amendment does not require the deputies to have waited until Payton and Chase attacked them, even if their belief was mistaken, to confirm that a serious threat of harm existed," the motion states.

Reached Tuesday, Calvo said his attorneys are preparing a response to the motion, but he said he still believes the county failed to investigate enough before going into his house.

"They continue to stand by the notion that what happened in my house was a model incident [of law enforcement]," he said. "They've refused to acknowledge their mistake and refused to take steps to make sure that innocent people don't get caught up in these paramilitary operations."

Calvo and other municipal police agencies have pointed to numerous failures by investigating officers, including a failure to knock on his door before executing the warrant and not notifying local police before deputies moved in.

Both sides are expected to argue the latest motion in court later this month. Calvo is not seeking a specific amount in damages in the lawsuit but has asked for a judge to examine the county's procedures for handling search warrants.

"This isn't an isolated incident," Calvo said. "It's a pattern of behavior that needs to be addressed by the courts."

E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net