Recent Trial Recap (State v Smith)

Charge:

Aggravated Battery With a Deadly Weapon in violation of Fla. Stat. 784.()45(1 )(a)2.

Tried by:

Jury

Verdict:

Not Guilty

Personal Thoughts:

This was a case wherein the defendant had been engaged in a verbal dispute. Leaving the driveway, law enforcement unilaterally declared that the defendant sought to run the wife over. The wife had contacted the police angry over the situation. She was seeking an injunction for protection. When advised that one was not permitted, law enforcement in Sumter County, Fl. thereupon created its own impression of the offense over those of the alleged victim. The wife sought to correct law enforcement, yet the defendant found himself accused of a crime punishable by fifteen years in prison. Regardless of the fact that the victim even professed at trial that she was not a victim and that the defendant had not tried to harm her, a jury had to reach a verdict. Obviously, the verdict was properly one of not guilty.