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State v. Schrantz12/2/2003
The assault conviction emanates from an incident at the Fast Lane gas station in Jackson on April 1, 2001. The defendant accompanied the victim, Diana Todd, into the store. The defendant and the victim had been involved in a relationship, but in the hours preceding the events at the Fast Lane, they had argued about the defendant staying out until the wee hours on April l with the victim's sister.
In the Fast Lane store, the couple argued over how many packs of cigarettes the victim should buy, and the victim left the store with the defendant following behind her.
The victim, who was called as a witness by the state, testified that after leaving the store, she got behind the wheel of her sport utility vehicle and locked the doors. The defendant testified that he panicked when he found the passenger side door locked. He went to the rear of the vehicle and opened the unlocked hatch door. Then, by all accounts, the six-foot-seven-inch, 293-pound defendant climbed through the rear of the vehicle and over the rear seat. The victim and the defendant both testified that the defendant tried to get the keys from the vehicle switch and that the victim struck him several times in the face with her wallet "to get his attention." They both denied that the defendant struck the victim.
The victim left the vehicle, went in to the store, and asked the store clerk to call 911. The victim and the defendant testified that when the victim went to the store, the defendant occupied the driver's seat of the vehicle and refused to budge when the victim returned and tried to pull him out. The victim and the defendant testified that the defendant did not strike the victim at any time during the episode at the Fast Lane. The victim testified that she was not fearful of the defendant, characterizing him as "a big teddy bear" who would not harm her.
The victim denied that she told investigating Jackson Police Officer Mark Ellington that the defendant had hit her. When she learned the day after the incident that the defendant had been incarcerated, she reviewed the incident report, which stated that the defendant had assaulted the victim. She called Officer Ellington and told him the report was inaccurate and that the defendant had not struck her.
The Fast Lane clerk testified that after the argument inside the store, the victim left, an angry defendant followed her, and the victim got into her vehicle. The clerk saw the defendant climb through the hatch door and testified that the defendant began hitting the victim with open hands and fists on the head and in the face. The clerk testified, "He just kept hitting her and hitting her." The victim then came back into the store in an agitated state and asked the clerk to call 911, which the clerk did. The clerk testified that the victim returned to the vehicle and that the defendant and the victim engaged in "constant fighting" while standing outside the vehicle. She described the victim's efforts as defensive.
A customer of the Fast Lane testified that he was pumping gas when he saw the defendant enter the victim's vehicle through the rear hatch. The customer, who was an off-duty deputy sheriff in another county, testified that the defendant began hitting the victim. He testified that when he went into the store to pay for his gas, the clerk screamed, "He's beating her!" The customer told the clerk to call 911 before the victim came to the door to make the same request.
The Jackson officers who investigated the incident testified that they found the victim in an upset, hysterical, and "flushed" condition. They testified that she told them that the defendant had hit her. The defendant was arrested an
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