Count Dropped Against Judge in Battery Trial

A misdemeanor battery charge against Municipal Judge Joseph K. Davis, accused of beating his pregnant former girlfriend, was dismissed Friday after the jury deadlocked 11-1 for acquittal, resulting in a mistrial.

In ruling for the dismissal, Superior Court Judge James Edmunds called the evidence against Davis “insufficient” and said that Davis was “obviously innocent” of the charge.

Edmunds also said there were substantial questions about the version of events as initially described to police by Davis’ former girlfriend, Anna Monica Garcia, 24, who has since recanted her story about the beating and who never testified or even attended the trial.

Edmunds concluded that there was “no reasonable possibility of a conviction” had Davis, 41, been subjected to another trial.

Davis appeared subdued during the sparsely attended hearing as Edmunds explained his decision, made in response to a dismissal motion lodged by Davis’ attorney, Jan Ronis. Afterward, Davis, smiled broadly but remained low-key as he spoke with reporters.

“I don’t think it lessens my effectiveness as a jurist,” Davis said in response to a question about the possible impact of the trial. He also said he will not let the trial color his opinion of the city attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case.

Deputy City Atty. Casey Gwinn said that his office has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the dismissal but that any comment about what the office will do next is premature.

In arguing against the dismissal, Gwinn noted that the jury was not allowed to hear tapes of the 911 phone call Garcia made to police describing the alleged beating. He called the tape “extremely important evidence” because it showed Garcia’s “fear” and “franticness.”

Gwinn also said he was not able to introduce evidence that Garcia, who is now living in Mexico, was pregnant or that she and Davis reconciled after the alleged attack last November, leaving the jury with the impression that Davis walked out on her after confronting her about seeing a former boyfriend.

But Ronis, in pushing for the dismissal, stressed that the “overwhelming majority” of the jury believed Davis “wasn’t guilty of battery.”

“There’s never going to be a conviction,” Ronis said. He added that it was time for the “nightmare (of) three months” to stop: “At some point people have to let Davis go,” he said.

Davis’ defense painted the judge as an innocent victim in a lovers’ quarrel. Davis had not beaten Garcia, he testified; rather, she attacked him in a fit of rage after he told her their live-in relationship was over. The relationship ended, Davis testified, after he had been told she was seeing her former boyfriend.

“She came at me, flailing with her arms. When she got to the chair, I reached for her, to block and keep her from punching my lights out. Then the chair flipped and she fell on top of me,” Davis testified.

The troubles between the couple began Nov. 21, Davis said, when he received a phone call from Anna Saddler, wife of Garcia’s former boyfriend, Larry Saddler. The woman told Davis that Garcia had been seeing Saddler and asked Davis to tell Garcia to stay away from him.

The next morning, Davis testified, he confronted Garcia in their Tierrasanta town house and told her he was moving out. He said Garcia left in anger, threatening to harm Anna Saddler.

According to the Saddlers’ testimony, Garcia arrived at their house at 7 a.m., bursting through the door, knocking Larry Saddler to the floor and attacking Anna Saddler in the bedroom. The two women wrestled on the bed and Garcia attempted to hit her with a telephone, they testified.

The next day, Davis said, he returned to the town house, where he and Garcia had an argument. When he told her they were through and that he had given the landlord 30 days’ notice, Garcia “came right at me swinging,” Davis testified. After the scuffle, Davis said, Garcia “bolted out the door” and told him: “I’m going to fix you.”

Garcia called police and made a citizen’s arrest of Davis. She also eventually obtained a court order temporarily barring Davis from their home.

Davis’ defense contended that Garcia’s bruises were actually incurred during her fight with the Saddlers and not by Davis.

In deciding to dismiss the charges, Edmunds said “the thing that most troubles me” was there was no way to verify Garcia’s complaints about being kicked, beaten and choked by Davis. “I find it hard to believe that someone subjected . . . to choking and kicking . . . would have slight bruises.” Her credibility “would be destroyed on the injuries,” Edmunds said.

The jury deliberated for a day and half. On Thursday, the jury’s foreman, Willie Pitts, inadvertently told Edmunds that the group was deadlocked 11 to 1 for acquittal. The jury agreed to meet again Friday in an attempt to reach a verdict.

After meeting for about 90 minutes Friday morning, the jury told Edmunds it was unable to resolve the matter. Edmunds then declared a mistrial. About half an hour later, Edmunds ruled on Ronis’ motion to dismiss the case.

Outside the court, two jurors said they were convinced that Garcia’s bruises were incurred in the fight with the Saddlers.