AUGUSTA — A city woman was cleared of a charge of driving to endanger and a city man was convicted of assault following separate jury trials last week at the Capital Judicial Center.
Whitney Keliher, 19, was cleared of the driving charge on Friday, and a mistrial was declared on an additional charge of criminal threatening.
The jury deliberated more than two hours late Friday afternoon.
The charges stemmed from an incident Feb. 15, 2016, in Augusta.
“The jury made the right decision,” said Darrick Banda, Keliher’s defense attorney.
In the other case, Jason A. Urquhart, 45, of Augusta, was sentenced to six months in jail Thursday, shortly after a jury found him guilty of an assault that occurred June 24, 2016, on Water Street in Augusta.
“The defendant manipulated the victim into lying about his assault of her,” said District Attorney Maeghan Maloney via email. “Not only did the jury see through it (convicting him), but Judge (Eric) Walker sentenced him to six months in jail on a misdemeanor.”
While Urquhart was initially charged with domestic violence assault, the charge was dropped to simple assault before the trial started, according to Banda, who was also Urquhart’s defense attorney.
“We had the victim testify for us, and the jury didn’t believe her apparently,” Banda said on Monday.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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