Wednesday, September 25, 2002
|
Wednesday, September 25, 2002 |
|
Victim to jury: boyfriend attacked me with knife
By JOHN
MUNFORD
A Fayette County jury began deliberations yesterday in the case of a former Brooks resident accused of attacking his live-in girlfriend and putting a knife to her throat. Richard Todd Bates faces charges of aggravated assault, two counts of simple battery and one count each of cruelty to children and criminal trespassing. The victim, Heather Stokes, testified Tuesday morning that on June 10, 2001, Bates told the couple's children "to say goodbye to your mom because this is her last day." Stokes also testified that Bates told her, "I ought to go ahead and kill you right now," while he held the knife to her throat during the attack. Bates later took the stand in his defense and gave a different version of the events. He also denied the allegations of holding a knife to Stokes's throat and threatening to kill her. Bates claimed he was the one who was attacked that morning, as Stokes struck him several times with a broom stick. Bates said he eventually grabbed Stokes by the arms to stop the attack and pushed her onto a bed. "I was the one in danger," Bates testified. Bates said at the time of the incident she was mad with him because he was leaving her for cheating on him. Stokes also claimed that Bates purposefully urinated on her face in the couple's bedroom during the attack. He testified that didn't occur, but he did accidentally urinate on her when she burst into the bathroom to attack him.
|
||