A man found guilty of battery against a public safety official during a domestic violence call in Knox on May 28, 2019 was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Thursday afternoon.
David Griffith was found guilty of the charge in a one-day trial in Starke Circuit Court May 26. It took jury members just a few minutes to return a verdict.
Knox City Police officers Patrick McKee and Travis Schieber responded to the call. When they arrived at the residence, the officers testified that Griffith, who was apparently intoxicated, would not comply with commands by the officers to come out of a closet. He then battered an officer in the process.
The two officers were the only witnesses who testified during the trial. Starke Circuit Court Judge presided over the trial while Starke County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Micah Cox represented the State of Indiana and Timothy Lemon was the attorney for the defendant.
During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall affirmed the guilty verdict on the Level 6 Felony count of battery against a public safety official. Griffith was also found guilty on a charge of resisting law enforcement as a Misdemeanor but, it was not affirmed due to double jeopardy concerns.
There was some confusion on credit time, so it will be determined by the Starke County Probation Department and documented in the order.
Judge Hall allowed Griffith to make a statement where he said the jury was wrong to convict him and he did nothing wrong. Other statements made against the trial were determined by Judge Hall as aggravating factors. Judge Hall did note that Griffith is a hard working person and that he has not violated any terms of pre-trial supervision which were considered as mitigating factors.
Griffith was sentenced to 26 months of incarceration with all of the sentence suspended to be served on probation. The length of the actual time on probation will be determined by the probation department. The sentence may be modified at any time.
