A district court judge found former Hendersonville Police Officer Travis Rector guilty of assault on a female Wednesday stemming from an altercation with his wife, Kelli.
Rector said he will appeal the conviction to Superior Court. Chief Herbert Blake said Rector is no longer a police officer, effective Wednesday.
During testimony, Rector said he had an argument with Kelli because “(I) wasn’t faithful to my wife.” The argument became heated and Rector said he attempted to leave the room.
Kelli threw a snack cake in his face, which made it difficult for him to breathe and caused him pain.
Rector said he pushed Kelli away but never hit her. Kelli stumbled backward and sat down against the wall, where she started to cry, Rector said.
“I told her I didn’t mean for her to get hit like that,” he added.
Rector tried to comfort her, but she told him to leave her alone and went into the bathroom. Kelli eventually left the apartment to go to her brother’s home, and Rector drove to his sister’s house in Transylvania County.
James Patterson, Kelli’s brother, said Kelli pulled into his driveway and got out of the car.
“She walked up, and I could tell she had been crying,” Patterson said.
He noticed that Kelli “had a black eye.” She was shaking and not coherent, he said.
Prosecuting Attorney David Norris showed Patterson a photo of Kelli taken after the incident. He was asked if the photo accurately represented Kelli’s injuries.
“To me, she looked worse than that,” Patterson said.
Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Ridgeway contacted Rector and met him at the apartment later in the evening. Rector jumped out of his truck and spoke with Ridgeway.
“He said ... ‘She came at me first. It was self-defense,’” Ridgeway said.
Rector showed Ridgeway where the confrontation took place. When asked to explain what happened in detail, Ridgeway said Rector stated, “She bruised easily.”
He said he saw no marks or injuries on Rector, but did see slight remnants of the snack cake on his shirt.
Rector was cooperative during the conversation and when he was placed under arrest, Ridgeway said. A magistrate allowed Rector to bond immediately after the arrest, waving the normal 48-hour period because of concerns of Rector’s safety in the jail.
Rector’s attorney, Trey Yelverton, said the prosecution’s witnesses had inconsistencies in their stories. He added that a jury would not convict Rector because his client was clearly acting in self-defense.
Judge Patricia Young sentenced Rector to 12 months supervised probation and ordered him to complete a 26-week domestic violence course. With the appeal, Rector has the right to a jury trial and will not serve Young’s sentence if he gets a new trial.
Rector and Kelli are supposedly back together. A court order had barred him from having contact with Kelli. The order was dropped at her consent.
No comments:
Post a Comment