Yesterday, a jury acquitted a New Jersey man of accusations that he'd assaulted his former girlfriend in Englewood. He'd also been charged with attacking a police officer in the incident.
He was acquitted on several counts of aggravated assault and criminal weapons possession and stalking, but was found guilty of the significantly lesser charge of harassment.
The trial was the second one on the charges against the Jersey City man. Last year, a trial resulted in a hung jury.
The latest trial had been going on since early last month. In it, he was accused of choking his former girlfriend outside of her Englewood home before a police officer arrived on the scene. The officer claimed the man waved a razorblade at him before the officer shot the man in the leg.
The man's defense was that the girlfriend was less than truthful. She claimed he was a threat-issuing stalker. The reality, according to the defense, was that the couple had known each other for over a year and had dated.
The defense also pointed out that the defendant was shot in the back of the leg by the detective who was at least five feet away, arguing that the defendant didn't pose a threat to the officer.
Hackensack Superior Court jurors agreed with the defense's view of the incident, finding the man not guilty on an aggravated assault charge that carried a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The harassment conviction doesn't include a possibility of jail time.
However, the exonerated man has been held in Bergen County Jail since December of 2009.
Source: NorthJersey.com: "Jurors announce acquittal in Englewood assault trial," Kibret Markos, April 5, 2012