An Abingdon auto mechanic was sentenced to six years in state prison last week after pleading guilty to holding his estranged wife at gunpoint and choking her to unconsciousness when she began packing to move out of their home.
Circuit Judge Stephen M. Waldron accepted Wednesday's plea agreement from James E. Mason, suspended 14 years of a 20-year sentence and ordered the defendant to serve five years of supervised probation after his release.
Judge Waldron also ordered Mason to have no contact with his wife, Linda, or his two daughters and ordered him to complete any rehabilitation program found necessary after he undergoes a psychiatric evaluation.
Prosecutor Diana A. Brooks told the court in a statement of facts that Mrs. Mason, who had been living with a friend in Baltimore after separating from her husband, made her customary weekly trip to the couple's Abingdon residence June 7 to clean and do her husband's laundry.
Mrs. Mason said her husband suddenly began screaming that he "had enough," threw her onto a sofa, strangled her until she passed out and then held her at gunpoint for several hours after she regained consciousness.
At some point, Mrs. Mason said, her husband became remorseful and gave her the gun.
Mrs. Mason said she did not try to leave immediately because she feared that her husband would stalk her if she left. She called police June 10 to report the incident.
Defense lawyer Michelle Leipold said she would not downplay the seriousness of her client's offense, but told Judge Waldron ,, that her client's version of the facts would be different from what Mrs. Mason had said.
Ms. Leipold said her client realized that day, for the first time, that his marriage of 29 years really was breaking up, that his wife was packing to leave and that he made a "whopper of a wrong choice."
"That's what guys do," Ms. Leipold said. "He got physical and, of course, that was stupid."
Judge Waldron said he was offended by Ms. Leipold's "guys will be guys" defense.
"I'm one of those guys," the judge said. "Violence is not an option. If it takes heavy sentences to get that message across, so be it."
Judge Waldron said he could not accept the argument that men turn to violence because they don't know how to express themselves verbally.
The case before him involved hair pulling, dragging, strangling, pursuit and use of a gun, the judge said.
"Typically, people who act violently in the privacy of their homes are mousy in public," he said.
Citing punishment -- the first of three factors a judge considers in sentencing a defendant -- Judge Waldron said, "Domestic violence hits at two basics: trust and betrayal. Divorce is terrible, but violence is never acceptable."
Addressing rehabilitation, the second factor, Judge Waldron said agreed with Ms. Leipold that the defendant "has had quite a culture shock, but I don't believe he poses no threat to society.
"He most certainly is a threat to one person in this room," the judge said, nodding toward Mrs. Mason.
In assessing protection to society, the third factor, Judge lTC Waldron said public deterrence was also important.
"Anyone acting in a violent way and coming into my courtroom knows, or ought to know that he is going to jail," the judge said.
In suspending most of Mason's sentence, Judge Waldron said he considered the victim's testimony that the defendant needed [psychiatric] help and the defendant's remorse for his actions.