FARMINGTON – A Walpole man pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and criminal mischief today in Franklin County Superior Court, as part of an arranged plea with a five-year sentence cap.
Clay Carter, 32, of Walpole, had requested a jury trial on four counts relating to an incident that occurred on March 22 in Stratton, but his defense and the state came to an agreement prior to the start of the trial. Carter had been charged with gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact, aggravated assault and criminal mischief, and plead guilty to counts three and four.
On March 22, according to evidence Assistant District Attorney James Andrews said would have been presented had the case proceeded to trial, the victim was at a coworker’s apartment in the Stratton area when Carter arrived. Carter, who had been in a relationship with the victim, entered the apartment in what Andrews described as a “jealous rage” and dragged the victim out and into his car. He then took her to the apartment they shared and assaulted her by, as described by Andrews, taking her by her hair and smashing her head into a deck, as well as picking her up and throwing her into a wall.
Evidence presented at trial would have included medical records and physical evidence; handfuls of hair scattered throughout the apartment.
The victim also alleged that she was sexually assaulted later that night. However, according to Andrews, the District Attorney’s Office determined there were “weaknesses in the state’s proof regarding [the sexual abuse] charges” and had reached an agreement with Carter’s attorney, Walter McKee, prior to the start of the trial.
The agreed-upon sentencing cap would restrict the maximum, unsuspended prison sentence Carter would serve to five years, out of a possible 10-year sentence on the Class B felony, aggravated assault. Andrews also said he intends to ask for four years of probation, instead of the usual maximum of three, by adding language to the indictment that assets Carter’s assault was inflicted upon a “family or household member.”
Carter will receive credit for time served, having been in jail since March 25, when his bail was revoked after he violated the conditions of his release by contacting the victim. His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday morning.
