A man who came home drunk from work and beat his girlfriend will serve a year in jail.
The defendant, Jonathan Casey Smith, 23, was given an 11-month, 29-day sentence Tuesday by General Sessions Judge Larry Ross and was directed to serve 75 percent of the total term before release. He has also been warned not to have any contact with his girlfriend.
His sentence comes after Smith, arriving at the residence in an intoxicated state, dragged his girlfriend out of her car as she tried to leave. Although able to get away initially, warrants against Smith maintain he was soon able to catch her.
“He chased me down and grabbed my hair and began punching me in the head and was dragging me across the gravel,” the girlfriend stated in the warrant, noting Smith was able to get her cellphone and break it so she could not call for help. “The incident happened in front of our 2-year-old daughter.”
A woman who witnessed the incident tried to stop and help but was chased off by Smith. The same thing happened to two others who drove up.
Smith was taken into custody when deputies arrived. A search of his person turned up brass knuckles in his back pocket. Smith told officers he intended to use them on anyone who showed up at his residence.
Smith will be eligible for release after serving around eight months of his sentence. His plea to domestic assault charges means he has forever given up his right to own or possess a firearm.