People v. Lueth

Opinion

RICHLI, J.

A 911 caller reported seeing defendant Eric Preston Lueth using a tire iron to hit a woman and to damage a vehicle. When the police arrived, defendant’s girlfriend had a rapidly swelling bump on her forehead, and her Jeep was damaged. Defendant was bleeding from a cut on his head. The girlfriend refused to tell the police what had happened. At trial, however, she testified that defendant did hit her, but indoors, with his fist; she did not remember being hit outdoors, with a tire iron.

A jury found defendant guilty of aggravated assault (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)),…