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E-mail StoryJury convicts pig farmer on lesser charges
| Wednesday, Apr 23 2008 1:59 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Apr 23 2008 7:06 PM
An 82-year-old Bakersfield man accused of hitting a sheriff’s deputy with a paint roller was acquitted of two felony counts, but was convicted of lesser offenses Wednesday.
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Louis Montgomery waits to be called into Kern County Superior Court in this June 2007 file photo.
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The jury in the trial of retired truck driver Louis Montgomery found him not guilty of felony assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and felony resisting arrest. However, the jury found Montgomery guilty of two misdemeanor counts related to the original charges.
Neither side was celebrating following the verdict, but Judge William Palmer sent a signal to attorneys that made jail time appear an unlikely outcome for the elderly defendant.
“I am quite interested in what alternatives there are to incarceration,” Palmer said following the verdict. He mentioned community service as a consideration.
The charges against Montgomery revolved around an incident that occurred March 4 of last year.
A dispute between Montgomery and some of his neighbors had been simmering for months over a variety of issues, including pigs raised in the defendant’s yard that neighbors said caused excessive odors and flies.
On the day of the incident, Montgomery and other family members were painting a block wall on Montgomery’s property.
They were using several bright colors to cover the side of the wall facing a neighbor. Police were called.
When Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Williams arrived, he ordered Montgomery to stop painting. The situation escalated and Williams was struck in the head with a long-handled paint roller.
Williams suffered a gash that required stitches, while Montgomery sustained two fractured bones and a bloodied wrist during the confrontation.
Outside the courtroom, Kyle Humphrey, Montgomery’s attorney, said his client doesn’t understand why he was convicted of anything. What gives police the right to enter a man’s property and order him to stop painting his own wall with his own paint? Humphrey asked.
Another deputy had responded to the neighborhood months before related to a separate dispute about a fence, according to trial testimony. Montgomery was told at that time it was a civil matter that did not fall within the jurisdiction of law enforcement.
Deputy District Attorney William Schlaerth left the courtroom without speaking to a reporter.
Sentencing was scheduled for May 21.