Friday's Internet Edition, July 04, 2008.
assault case
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Leader-Press correspondent - GATESVILLE – It took a 52nd District Court jury less than 15 minutes to return a not guilty verdict Tuesday in the case of a Copperas Cove man charged with aggravated assault.
Richard Garrison, 21, had been charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury in connection with a December, 2003 event that took place at the 7-11 Store at 2124 East Highway 190 in Copperas Cove, Brandon Belt, Garrison’s court appointed attorney said Thursday.
Belt said Garrison was accused in a Copperas Cove police report of attacking another man with num-chucks and causing a cut over the victim’s nose.
Belt said his client was the victim of an attack and the injury to the accuser actually happened with Garrison tried to break free of a bear hug. “He just shoved his head back and basically head-butted the guy in the nose. The testimony from the officers showed there was a small spot of blood on the back of my client’s head and nowhere else,” Belt said.
Police officers testified from the stand that no weapons were found and none was recovered for presentation as evidence.
Prosecutor David Castillo called seven witnesses; Belt only one – the defendant. Testimony lasted only one day and summations came on Tuesday, Belt said.
The eight-man, four-woman jury began deliberations at 3:03 p.m., “and they were back in the jury box reading the verdict at 3:20,” Belt said.
“I told the D.A.’s office they couldn’t win this case. I’ve been telling them that for three weeks,” Belt said. He said there was a second statement from the incident given by a second witness that the D.A.’s office never reviewed. “They just failed to investigate this,” Belt said. “One of the jurors told me the jury couldn’t believe they were called here. One asked (District Clerk) Janet Gray how much this cost.”
“It was a waste of money, a waste of my time and a waste of a court date,” Belt said. “They could have tried somebody who’s in the jail that’s costing us a hundred dollars a day to keep.”
Belt has tried two felony jury trials since becoming a lawyer, both in the last three months, both against Castillo and both acquittals. He is running this fall for election to the County Attorney’s seat.
“I don’t try these cases ‘cause I think they’re fun. Our D.A.’s office refused my client’s offer to plead guilty to a deferred adjudication. They just don’t get it,” Belt said. “My last jury was out 15 minutes and came back not guilty and this one was out 12 minutes. The court reporter said they were out eight.”
A telephone request for comment from the D.A.’s office was not returned by Thursday at mid-day.