A man who was previously accused of aggravated assault three times was acquitted of the same charge in five minutes.
William Mayfield walked away a free man after a jury acquitted him of aggravated assault, aggravated stalking and terroristic threat charges in five minutes, the fastest acquittal some have seen, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Mayfield would have faced 35 years in jail if convicted, according to Channel 2. He was arrested for aggravated assault and making terroristic threats in October 2015.
In the incident, Mayfield and his wife got into a fight in which he had a knife, according to a police report. Police said Mayfield accused his wife of cheating on him and threatened to kill her, the man she cheated with, her co-workers and then himself.
The assault accusations weren’t the first made of Mayfield, Channel 2 reported. He was accused of assaulting his wife three other times.
“The [Gwinnett County District Attorney’s] Office did what we believed necessary to hold the abuser responsible and attempt to protect the victim in the future,” Gwinnett County Chief District Attorney Dan Mayfield said.
Dan Mayfield told Channel 2 in an email he’s seen verdicts this fast in child molestation, date rape and domestic violence cases where the victim may support the abuser.
“These are very difficult cases, but we will continue to fight for victims even when they do not fight for themselves, or children that cannot fight for themselves,” Dan Mayfield said.
William Mayfield’s wife didn’t want the case prosecuted, Dan Mayfield said.
“Prosecutions are always difficult when the domestic violence victim supports the abuser,” he said.
William Mayfield was offered five years in prison, but turned it down.
While Mayfield’s private investigator Robin Martinelli told Channel 2 the verdict was a “like a miracle and like history,” Mayfield was worried through the entire ordeal.
“I was back in my cell pacing,” he told Channel 2. “I think I wore a hole in my shoe.”
Juror Rick Puckett said the acquittal was the fastest he’s seen, but he’s glad William Mayfield gets a second chance.
“It was tragic; this guy spent nine months in jail for no reason,” Puckett said.
Martinelli is holding a press conference Monday at her firm along South Perry Suit in Lawrenceville about the case with Mayfield and a juror on the case.
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