NOT GUILTY Three Assault Charges in Michigan
My client was charged with two counts of felonious assault and one count of aggravated domestic violence. Both of the felonious assaults were punishable by up to 4 years in prison and the domestic violence was punishable by up to 1 year in prison. My client was not interested in any deals and professed his innocence, so we went to trial.
NOT GUILTY ALL COUNTS. Charged with assault? Better call Boria (734) 453-7806
Felonious Assault Allegations
The allegations were that my client was arguing with his live-in girlfriend late at night. When he was trying to go to sleep and she wouldn’t allow. She claimed that he assaulted her by pulling a knife on her and threatened to kill her.
When he began to leave the house she followed. She claimed she followed him because she wanted things out of the car, and wanted to leave as she felt scared. He began to drive off and she grabbed onto the passenger side door handle, fell, and got ran over. It was getting run over by the car that she claimed was the second felonious assault. She claimed that he intentionally ran her over. My client got out of the car, helped her inside, and treaded her injuries. She claimed that he would not allow her to go to the hospital but went with her the next day.
She waited almost 6 months to report this incident as an assault. Claimed the delay was because she was scared, issues at work etc. Except that after she moved out of the home she continued to call him, see him, and be intimate with him. It came out during out client’s testimony that the report was not made until after our client started dating another woman.
Inconsistent Testimony At Trial
The girlfriend had three different versions of the story by the time we got to the preliminary examination. (A hearing in district court).
One story involved another driver hitting her, another involved her dress getting caught, and another involved my client accelerating quickly and her falling. At exam she testified that not only did my client run her over, but also that he threw the car in reverse and drove back over her! When we got to trial she added another version that was the best yet. This time, she fell and he threw it into reverse and stopped the car on her body while she screamed.
The girlfriend’s 14-year-old son claimed to have seen the incident as well. In his report (made a week after her report) he described a seen out of the movie Christine where the car chased her down and she was ran over by the front of the car. His testimony was completely different at trial. Even the prosecutor had a different version in her opening and closing statement. The prosecutor claimed that once she fell the client reversed the car and only bumped her side, which constituted felonious assault. We had a total of 8 different versions of the felonious assault involving a vehicle by the time this thing was done.
Michigan Criminal Lawyer, Aaron J. Boria
The Truth is that my client came home, and he and his girlfriend both went to bed in the nude. He was woken suddenly during the middle of the night by being dragged out of his bed. He could hear shoes hitting the ground but couldn’t see. Thinking his girlfriend was next to him sleeping, he grabbed for his knife that he keeps near the bed for protection. He defended himself from the intruder. As soon as he heard her voice he knew that it was his girl friend and not an intruder and stopped.
He is a retired Marine, some of his testimony dealt with why a knife over a gun, how the war had an effect on his sleep, etc. We did voir dire (questions to the jury prior to opening statements regarding topics that may come up and how they feel about them) on weapons in the home, self-defense, mistake, etc.
Defending Felonious Assault with a Vehicle
He went to leave and she followed him out side. Followed him down the driver way as he backed out. Followed him pulling on the door handle as he pulled off. He then stopped and moved her away from the car. Got back in the car, and sure enough she started running with the car near the rear passenger door. He could see her head bob once or twice out of his peripheral then she fell and he felt a bump. He got out, helped her inside, she refused the hospital. The two of them joked about the situation and went to bed.
We had a self-defense jury instruction as well as an accident instruction. Prosecutor objecting nonstop and kept a lot of good evidence out but the jury saw through it. Case was in Macomb Circuit Court in front of judge Druzinski who was wonderful to try a case in front of.
Client was very happy. Jury was in a good mood afterward.
If you have been charged with felonious assault or some other criminal offense then you need to contact criminal defense lawyer, Aaron J. Boria, PLLC. We fight for our clients and we get results. Call (734) 453-7806 for a free consultation.
