Mark Selner, 32, was accused of battering James Haddox while they were both incarcerated in the Marshall County Jail on Feb. 9, 2013. A video of the altercation was shown to the jury during Selner’s trial and Prosecutor Nelson Chipman emphasized that Selner sucker-punched Haddox and inflicted a total of 22 punches within a span of 19 seconds. At least 17 of those blows were inflicted while Haddox was on the floor. Haddox suffered a wound that required eight staples, an MRI and pain medication.
Selner argued that he acted in self-defense which the jury rejected.
Marshall County Superior Court Judge Robert O. Bowen sentenced Selner Thursday to six years on the battery charge. Judge Bowen also sentenced Selner to the maximum terms of imprisonment of three years each on unrelated charges of Theft (two counts), Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Methamphetamine Precursors, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Those sentences were ordered to run concurrently with each other and concurrently with the battery sentence.
Judge Bowen did impose purposeful incarceration and ordered Selner to undergo intensive drug treatment.
