Sentencing set Feb. 6 in domestic battery case

Sentencing is set Feb. 6 for a Gardnerville man convicted last week of a second count of domestic battery.

After a day-long trial in East Fork Justice Court on Jan. 23, visiting Judge Steven McMorris found Ronald John Smith, 44, guilty of battery that constitutes domestic violence with a prior conviction.

Smith was convicted of domestic battery in May 2005.

After hearing several witnesses, including the 55-year-old victim, McMorris determined that the woman's arm was broken July 27, 2008, at Smith's residence.

Holding up an X-ray of the victim's left arm, McMorris said,

"This is the arm. The ulna very clearly is broken, it's not cracked, it's broken."

He disputed defense attorney Matt Ence's assertion that the woman's arm was broken some time over a three-day period and there wasn't enough evidence to show that Smith was responsible.

Citing the testimony of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Paul Fry, who treated the victim, McMorris said, "When you break your ulna, you know it. There was nothing to indicate she broke her arm in an (earlier) fall on stairs."

Smith was charged with domestic battery following his arrest Sept. 5, 2008.

He denied the allegation and told investigators the woman probably hurt her arm when she fell walking up a flight of stairs on July 25. He claimed she fabricated the story that he struck her.

Deputies were called to Carson Valley Medical Center shortly before midnight on July 27 where the woman was being treated for a broken left arm.

She testified Friday that Smith was passed out on his bed and became enraged when she tried to awaken him so she could get in bed.

She said he grabbed a breathing mask from his sleep apnea machine, threw it at her, and knocked her glasses on the floor.

The woman said she got out a stool to turn on an overhead fan light to look for her glasses and Smith knocked her off, punching, kicking and choking her.

Fry, who practices at Tahoe Fracture Clinic, said the victim's injury was consistent with her account of what happened. He said the injury would cause pain that would limit mobility.

According to the victim, Smith threatened to kill her and bury her body on Leviathan Mine Road.

She said before she left the residence, he forced her to write a note swearing that he didn't hurt her.

McMorris set sentencing for Feb. 6 and encouraged both sides to offer mitigating factors.

"I find this to be a pretty violent situation," he said. "I would like a chance to hear things in favor of Mr. Smith, or disfavor, as the case may be. It's conceivable I might exceed the standard statutory penalty for this type of second offense."

Smith is out on bail.

At an earlier hearing, Smith asked for a court-appointed attorney after he said he was in bankruptcy.

Smith said his financial woes were created as he successfully defended himself from charges that he sexually assaulted the 13-year-old son of a former girlfriend.

Smith was acquitted of the charges in April 2007.

He said a previous attorney had a $77,000 lien against his house.