Not Guilty – Assault – Commonwealth v. D.C.

DC was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and numerous related offenses for allegedly slicing his adult daughter’s fingers off with a bowie knife while attempting to stab her to death. DC was arrested shortly after the incident at a bar covered in blood from head to toe. As if the physical evidence wasn’t damning enough, there were multiple prison conversations recorded where DC was asking her not to come to court.

The prosecution’s initial offer was a state hit spanning a huge chunk of DC’s lifetime. Knowing her back was against the wall between a potential century plus sentence and a horrible offer, Marni Jo Snyder took the case to a week long jury trial. At every corner she attacked the evidence trying to show the lack of intent and that there was a defensive struggle on her client’s part. Officer after officer came on the stand and was crushed during cross examination. Even the bloody shirt was cross examined.

In a closing argument Ms. Snyder was able to captivate the jury and lay out her defense one final time. Despite the prosecution’s best efforts, Ms. Snyder was triumphant in her defense as her client was found NOT GUILTY of all charges except for one misdemeanor.