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Man acquitted, then found guilty |
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Thursday, 28 May 2009 |
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By Emily Hone BLACKFOOT — A 28-year-old Fort Hall man found innocent by a jury on March 24 of assault or battery on a police officer was found guilty by a second jury on May 26 of attempting to relieve a police officer of his weapon.
A jury of eight women and four men deliberated two hours Tuesday before finding Robert Earl Damon guilty of attempting to grab Blackfoot Police officer Jeff Boyd’s service weapon as the officer and another were wrestling him to the floor in the Bingham County Courthouse as they were arresting him on a warrant.
Seventh District Judge Darren B. Simpson scheduled sentencing for Damon for July 13 at 2:30 p.m. and remanded him to the custody of the Bingham County Sheriff in lieu of $50,000 bail.
The charge of assault or battery on a police officer resulted when police went to a local motel last Sept. 9 in response to a call from the manager reporting a disturbance in one of the units. Patrol Officer Andrew Arignola testified he was told Damon was one of the people involved, but when he knocked on the door and asked the person who answered his name, he became belligerent.
“I asked him again, and he said ‘arrest me,’ “ the officer said, “so I did.”
Arignola said as he and officer Travis Mayne were attempting to place Damon in the patrol car he called them names and kept getting more physical and inviting them to fight. Finally, the officer said, as he was patting Damon down, he lunged backwards, then kicked him on the shin.
Thereupon, Arignola said, they “took him to the ground and put him in the patrol car.”
On cross examination from public defender Manuel Murdock, Arignola replied ‘”Yes” when Murdock asked if he had grabbed Damon and pulled him out of the doorway he was standing in when he refused to give his name.
Mayne testified he came to the scene in response to a call from Arignola for assistance. Mayne said he walked up in time to hear Damon’s verbal response to Arignola, and after that the officer decided to place him under arrest.
Mayne said he saw Damon throw his head backwards as they were taking him to the car, but didn’t see it connect and didn’t see him kick Arignola. “He was very aggressive and wanted to fight us,” Mayne said.
He said At that time Damon was arrested for resisting and obstructing officers.
Testifying in his own defense at the March 24 trial, Damon said he had come from Boise to attend his grandfather’s funeral. He opened the door on Sept. 6 to see who was knocking and the officer standing there said he wanted to talk to him.
“I told him I didn’t want to talk to him,” Damon said. “It was pretty late and I wanted to go to bed.” He remembered swearing at the officers after Arignola pulled him out of the doorway, Damon said, but denied kicking Arignola. “I was pulling away from them and asking why I was being arrested,” he said.
Damon was still facing the charge of attempting to grab officer Boyd’s service pistol when the jury acquitted him of assault or battery on an officer at the March 24 trial.
That incident occurred on Jan. 27 when Boyd and another officer went to arrest Damon on a warrant. The defendant was free on his own recognizance on the assault or battery on an officer charge when Boyd and another officer attempted to arrest him on a warrant for violating the conditions of his OR release.
According to testimony at Tuesday’s trial Damon was exiting a courtroom where he was appearing on the misdemeanor resisting charge when the arrest attempt was made.
Boyd testified that Damon tried to run and the officers were wrestling with him when he saw Damon grab for his gun. At that point he slammed his hand to the floor and put his knee on it, Boyd said.
In his closing statement Prosecutor Scott Andrew told the jury that the arrest took place in front of Damon’s wife and 2-year-old son, and even though his wife testified that he didn’t grab for the officer’s gun, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
“You have to take into consideration that she’s his wife,” Andrew said.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 May 2009 )
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