Post by KC on Jul 19, 2006 20:20:37 GMT -5
July 19, 2006 - FORT PIERCE -- A Fort Pierce police officer accused of choking his pregnant girlfriend was sentenced to probation Wednesday and resigned from the agency under a plea deal.
David Leon Clark, 42, pleaded no contest to charges of tampering with a witness, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number and attempted aggravated battery, a reduced charge. He was sentenced by Circuit Judge Gary Sweet to three years of probation with conditions that he undergo anger management and substance abuse treatment and resign his law enforcement certification.
Sweet withheld adjudication on the charges which means he will not be a convicted felon. Had he been convicted at trial, Clark could have faced a maximum of 11 years in prison.
The alleged victim, Clark's fiancé, said their April argument was blown out of proportion and she asked the charges to be dropped. A police report claimed she said he choked her and slammed her head into a floor during an argument in the Port St. Lucie home they shared.
Though Clark was initially charged with attempted murder in the incident, prosecutors decided not to proceed with that charge and filed an aggravated battery charge instead. Clark had been on paid administrative leave from the police department while the case was pending, but turned in his resignation Wednesday, said Audria Moore, a police spokeswoman.
Defense attorney Hugo Concha, who represented Clark, said his client agreed to the plea because he did not want to put himself or his fiancé through the stress of a trial. Concha said he remained confident Clark would have been found not guilty had the case gone to a jury.
There are no restrictions preventing him from seeing his fiancé under the plea deal, Concha said.
Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell said Clark's lack of a prior record, the facts of the case and his fiancé's strong objections to the charges influenced his decision. He made the plea offer about a week and a half ago and Clark accepted all of the conditions, he said.
www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_4855508,00.html
David Leon Clark, 42, pleaded no contest to charges of tampering with a witness, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number and attempted aggravated battery, a reduced charge. He was sentenced by Circuit Judge Gary Sweet to three years of probation with conditions that he undergo anger management and substance abuse treatment and resign his law enforcement certification.
Sweet withheld adjudication on the charges which means he will not be a convicted felon. Had he been convicted at trial, Clark could have faced a maximum of 11 years in prison.
The alleged victim, Clark's fiancé, said their April argument was blown out of proportion and she asked the charges to be dropped. A police report claimed she said he choked her and slammed her head into a floor during an argument in the Port St. Lucie home they shared.
Though Clark was initially charged with attempted murder in the incident, prosecutors decided not to proceed with that charge and filed an aggravated battery charge instead. Clark had been on paid administrative leave from the police department while the case was pending, but turned in his resignation Wednesday, said Audria Moore, a police spokeswoman.
Defense attorney Hugo Concha, who represented Clark, said his client agreed to the plea because he did not want to put himself or his fiancé through the stress of a trial. Concha said he remained confident Clark would have been found not guilty had the case gone to a jury.
There are no restrictions preventing him from seeing his fiancé under the plea deal, Concha said.
Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell said Clark's lack of a prior record, the facts of the case and his fiancé's strong objections to the charges influenced his decision. He made the plea offer about a week and a half ago and Clark accepted all of the conditions, he said.
www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_4855508,00.html