Friday, August 8, 2003
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Friday, August 8, 2003 |
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Former Union City policeman admits to hitting ex-girlfriend at her Fayette home By JOHN
MUNFORD
A former Union City police officer admitted in court Thursday morning that he struck his ex-girlfriend several times at her Fayetteville home July 31 of last year. Samuel Howard Goodall, 40, also admitted to leaving the scene after Suzanne Phillips called 911. But he denied that he sexually assaulted her, denied that he kidnapped her by pulling her down the hallway to her bedroom, and denied that he pointed his gun at her during their physical altercation. Phillips, however, said Goodall pulled off her shorts and sexually assaulted her, he threw her into a wall and then pointed his holstered gun at her. "He told me he could put a bullet in my head and nobody would ever know," Phillips said Wednesday afternoon. "And I begged him to stop and he was pointing it at me. I asked him what was wrong with him ... and would he please put the gun down. And he did." Goodall is charged with aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping with bodily injury and aggravated sexual battery. The jury was still deliberating the case at press time Thursday afternoon. Phillips testified that the physical confrontation began when Goodall pulled her back to her bedroom, grabbing her by the wrists. She said he pulled down her shorts and sexually assaulted her in addition to grabbing her by the neck and punching her in the face. She also said he threw her up against a wall with such force that both her knees made holes in the wall. Phillips also said Goodall asked her not to tell the 911 operator who he was for fear he would lose his job. Goodall contended that he struck Phillips because she had grabbed him by the groin and would not let go after he told her it hurt. "I was just hurt ... I couldn't take it any more," Goodall said, adding that Phillips later jumped on his back and he responded by throwing her into the wall. "I needed to get her off me and get the heck out of there," Goodall said. Goodall said he tried to stay and help Phillips with her injuries but she insisted that he leave. Goodall also claimed that Phillips led him by the hand back to her bedroom and that he didn't pull her with force as she claimed. In addition to the conflicting testimony of Goodall and Phillips, the jury also heard the 911 tape where Phillips explains what happened and identifies Goodall as the assailant. Phillips, who is also a 911 operator for Fayette County, was clearly upset during the call. "Oh my God, he tried to kill me," Phillips said on the tape. "... He threw me into the wall. My God, he even pointed his gun at me." The jury also saw photos of Phillips that were taken by the Fayette County Sheriff's Department at the hospital after the incident. The photos depicted a cut to Phillips' forehead and bruising around both sides of her neck and on her back. A Fayette County sheriff's deputy also testified that he advised Phillips to consider seeking a protective order against Goodall after he witnessed her reaction when her cell phone rang twice while she rode along with him during one shift. Dep. James Turner said Phillips was riding in his patrol car when she answered her cell phone and told the caller she didn't want to talk to him. Dispatchers occasionally ride with deputies on a shift to better understand what a police officer faces in the field, Turner explained. "She told me she was having trouble with her ex-boyfriend by the name of Sam," Turner said. "She seemed very distraught and just frustrated." Turner said he offered to file a report on Goodall for making harassing phone calls, but Phillips declined, saying it would endanger Goodall's job as a police officer for Union City.
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