Teh One Who Knocks
04-26-2011, 02:58 PM
Prosecutor says he pointed a gun at her, kicked her, bit her
By Richard Chin - St Paul Pioneer Press
http://i.imgur.com/dg83m.jpg (http://imgur.com/dg83m)
A St. Paul man accused of assaulting his girlfriend and locking her in a dog kennel was found guilty of multiple felonies by a Ramsey County jury Monday evening.
Luke Brandon Scott, 29, offered no visible reaction as he was convicted of two counts of assault, terroristic threats and false imprisonment for his mistreatment of Caitlin Hodges the night of Sept. 26 and early Sept. 27. He was found not guilty of two counts of kidnapping.
During closing arguments Monday morning, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Janice Barker said Hodges told Scott she no longer wanted to be intimate with him. This made him angry and he refused to let her leave his house in the 1200 block of East Reaney Avenue, Barker said.
Barker then cataloged the abuses she said Scott inflicted upon Hodges: She said he slapped her, threw her to the ground, punched her, bit her, made her mop up spilled beer with her hair, dragged her by the hair, wrapped his arm around her throat, kicked her, hit her with a riding crop, hit her in the mouth with a bottle and knocked out her tooth, held a knife to her face, pointed a pellet gun at her eye and threw his own dog against a refrigerator.
"He tells her, 'I'm going to hang you from the basement and let you bleed slow,' " Barker said. "He tells her to go into the dog kennel because that's where the (female dogs) belong."
Hodges, 21, testified that Scott eventually unlocked the door early Sept. 27 and that she walked to a SuperAmerica station to get
help.
"The night became a night of terror for her," Barker said. "The night became a night of fear. The night became a night of degradation."
Scott's attorney, Leif Carlson, argued that the state had accused his client of "sensational, dark, ugly charges of kidnapping, assault, terrorism," but that the reality was "two intoxicated people acting like children."
Carlson said Hodges had an open relationship with Scott and was having sex with other men, which Carlson said puts in doubt her allegation that Scott became a "possessive animal" because she was leaving him.
"It doesn't square," Carlson said.
Carlson also said other people at the house testified that Hodges was drinking heavily during the incident. She was drunk and belligerent and passing in and out of consciousness, Carlson said. So, according to Carlson, it's not hard to believe that she crawled into the dog kennel herself to sleep, as Scott testified.
And it's reasonable to believe that she lost her tooth not because Scott hit her in the face with a bottle, but because she fell on a bottle and injured herself, Carlson said.
"Caitlin Hodges drank for so long, she drank so much, she finally fell down and hurt herself," Carlson said. "Luke Scott didn't assault her. She's not to be believed."
Scott had testified he wouldn't let Hodges leave his house because he didn't want her to drive drunk.
The jury will reconvene today to determine whether there were aggravating factors that should influence Scott's sentence.
By Richard Chin - St Paul Pioneer Press
http://i.imgur.com/dg83m.jpg (http://imgur.com/dg83m)
A St. Paul man accused of assaulting his girlfriend and locking her in a dog kennel was found guilty of multiple felonies by a Ramsey County jury Monday evening.
Luke Brandon Scott, 29, offered no visible reaction as he was convicted of two counts of assault, terroristic threats and false imprisonment for his mistreatment of Caitlin Hodges the night of Sept. 26 and early Sept. 27. He was found not guilty of two counts of kidnapping.
During closing arguments Monday morning, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Janice Barker said Hodges told Scott she no longer wanted to be intimate with him. This made him angry and he refused to let her leave his house in the 1200 block of East Reaney Avenue, Barker said.
Barker then cataloged the abuses she said Scott inflicted upon Hodges: She said he slapped her, threw her to the ground, punched her, bit her, made her mop up spilled beer with her hair, dragged her by the hair, wrapped his arm around her throat, kicked her, hit her with a riding crop, hit her in the mouth with a bottle and knocked out her tooth, held a knife to her face, pointed a pellet gun at her eye and threw his own dog against a refrigerator.
"He tells her, 'I'm going to hang you from the basement and let you bleed slow,' " Barker said. "He tells her to go into the dog kennel because that's where the (female dogs) belong."
Hodges, 21, testified that Scott eventually unlocked the door early Sept. 27 and that she walked to a SuperAmerica station to get
help.
"The night became a night of terror for her," Barker said. "The night became a night of fear. The night became a night of degradation."
Scott's attorney, Leif Carlson, argued that the state had accused his client of "sensational, dark, ugly charges of kidnapping, assault, terrorism," but that the reality was "two intoxicated people acting like children."
Carlson said Hodges had an open relationship with Scott and was having sex with other men, which Carlson said puts in doubt her allegation that Scott became a "possessive animal" because she was leaving him.
"It doesn't square," Carlson said.
Carlson also said other people at the house testified that Hodges was drinking heavily during the incident. She was drunk and belligerent and passing in and out of consciousness, Carlson said. So, according to Carlson, it's not hard to believe that she crawled into the dog kennel herself to sleep, as Scott testified.
And it's reasonable to believe that she lost her tooth not because Scott hit her in the face with a bottle, but because she fell on a bottle and injured herself, Carlson said.
"Caitlin Hodges drank for so long, she drank so much, she finally fell down and hurt herself," Carlson said. "Luke Scott didn't assault her. She's not to be believed."
Scott had testified he wouldn't let Hodges leave his house because he didn't want her to drive drunk.
The jury will reconvene today to determine whether there were aggravating factors that should influence Scott's sentence.