Posted: 6/7/05
Supreme court sides with county in Courtney appeal
The 2003 Third District Court conviction of Antoine Courtney will stand.
On May 12 the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a court of appeals ruling in favor of Courtney.
Courtney, who is from Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, was sentenced on May 23, 2003, in Third District Court in Caledonia on two separate convictions.
One was second degree assault and possessing a firearm with a removed serial number. Charges were brought after a November 2001 incident in which local law enforcement officers disarmed Courtney at a Caledonia apartment building.
The other conviction was for second degree assault, terroristic threats, two counts of domestic assault, and criminal damage to property relating to a domestic incident at the same apartment in September 2001.
Judge Robert Benson sentenced Courtney to 99-months in prison, which he is currently serving.
Courtneyís attorney, Mark Nyvold of St. Paul, appealed the case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which reversed Courtneyís convictions. The court of appeals ruled that:
ï Courtneyís right to confront witnesses was violated by the admission of a videotaped statement the girl friendís 6-year-old daughter gave to a child protection worker;
ï the district court erred in admitting Spreigl evidence of prior assaults on the girlfriend at the trial on the charges of assault of a police officer;
ï the district court abused its discretion in denying Courtneyís request for a continuance.
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled against the Court of Appeals for the following reasons:
ï the trial courtís error, if any, was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the ruling stated;
ï the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Courtneyís motion for a continuance in the domestic assault case;
ï the trial courtís admission of Courtneyís other crimes evidence in the officer assault case was a harmless error.
ìIím very happy with the ultimate decision,î Houston County Attorney Rick Jackson said. ìThe end result of the Supreme Courtís ruling is a finding that the defendant received a fair trial.î
Jackson added that he is happy because an individual that committed a felony assault against a significant other person and a Caledonia police officer will have to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
Nyvold declined to comment.
Caledonia Argus
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