The Williamsburg-James City County Courthouse
A 50-year-old James City County man was found guilty of malicious wounding at a Monday trial connected to a violent fight in November that involved several people at a home in the county on Ironbound Road.
Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court Judge Michael McGinty listened to more than an hour of testimony from witnesses before deciding there was enough evidence to convict Michael Anthony Robertson of striking a 48-year-old man in the head with a glass bottle. McGinty decided there was not enough evidence to convict Robertson of attacking the man’s 70-year-old mother during the fight.
The trial began with testimony from the 48-year-old victim, who said he and Robertson were part of a group with several other people who were drinking at a few houses near where the fight occurred. He said Robertson drank a whole bottle of corn liquor during the gatherings, which were to celebrate the birthday of the victim’s 27-year-old niece.
The victim’s 44-year-old sister said Robertson offered her and her daughter $500 to have sex with him during the gatherings. The 44-year-old sister then went to Robertson’s nearby home and told his wife about the proposition, she said.
The victim said Robertson then entered the yard and began swearing and yelling at the sister, prompting him to approach Robertson and tell him to stop.
“He was angry and drunk,” the victim said.
The confrontation then escalated. The victim said Robertson struck him in the back of the head with a glass bottle, causing him to charge Robertson and start hitting him. He said “a lot of people” were outside at that point and got involved in the fight.
The victim said his 70-year-old mother and Robertson ended up on the ground during the fight with Robertson’s arm around her neck. A charge against Robertson for that alleged offense was dropped.
McGinty also heard testimony from Master Police Officer Jason Slodysko of the James City County Police Department. Slodysko responded to the reported fight, finding Robertson with bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcohol about him. He said the victim’s head was bloodied from lacerations and that the victim did not appear to be intoxicated.
Robertson’s attorney, Richard Collins, argued the lack of any broken glass found by police at the scene discounted the victim’s testimony. Slodysko said when he arrived on scene there were 30 to 40 people “yelling” and “being unruly,” creating what he referred to as an “officer-safety situation.”
Robertson’s 12-year-old daughter testified the victim was the one trying to start the fight. She said a woman at the scene struck her father with a chair and that she never saw her father hit anyone. She said the rest of the victim’s family joined the fight after the victim struck her father.
Both the 12-year-old daughter and a woman who is Robertson’s niece and the 70-year-old woman’s grandson’s mother said the 70-year-old told them Robertson had never touched her. An assault and battery charge levied against Robertson for allegedly striking her was dropped by McGinty.
Robertson said he was arriving home from one of the houses where they had been drinking when the victim’s brother came up behind him in his yard and began choking him. He said the victim then charged him, yelling “you don’t have no yard” at which point the victim’s niece struck him with a chair.
“The whole family jumped me right in the yard,” Robertson said.
He said he sustained a broken nose, a broken rib and other injuries which caused him to miss more than a month of work. Robertson was taken to the emergency room after the fight. He said the victim did not sustain any injuries in the fight.
Robertson also testified he had consumed a few alcoholic beverages rather than an entire bottle of corn liquor.
“I wasn’t so drunk that I didn’t know what I was doing,” Robertson said.
Collins argued the case should be tossed because the witnesses contradicted each other throughout their testimonies. He brought up the lack of any broken glass or of a photograph of the injuries the victim said he incurred during the fight.
DeFord argued it was a “very violent situation” that “happened very quickly,” and that what was clear from the testimony of the witnesses was Robertson had struck the victim in the head with the glass bottle.
“We’ve established that Robertson attacked first,” DeFord said.
McGinty referenced Slodysko’s testimony about Robertson’s intoxication and the injuries on the victim’s head before pronouncing Robertson guilty of one felony count of malicious wounding. He will be sentenced Sept. 3.
Two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and two misdemeanor counts of attempting to solicit sex were dropped. Misdemeanor assault and battery charges against the victim and the 27-year-old woman who allegedly struck Robertson with the chair were dropped at January hearings in Williamsburg-James City County District Court.
Related Coverage: