A Solano County Superior Court jury has acquitted an Oakley man – Mr. Joudrey – of felony assault charges in an interesting, often drunkin recollection of events. To understand how this ‘not guilty’ verdict was achieved, we need to take a close look at the details and both sides of the story.
The charges involved the beating of a man in the middle of the street shortly after last call outside a bar in February 2014. Joudrey, who suffered a separated shoulder during what was described in testimony as a group melee, had been drinking with a group of people, including Mr. Horner, that evening. When they all left the bar, Horner believes he was attacked by Joudrey and possibly several others. During testimony the accuser's witnesses minimized their level of intoxication eventhough they all testified they had been at an annual Crab feed starting around 5p.m. that evening and had designated the Mother of the victim as the designated driver.
The victim suffered serious injuries that were described as a tripod fracture of the cheek bone in the face. Horner himself couldn’t pinpoint who actually assault him, claiming that he lost consciousness suddenly and woke up later with multiple facial fractures. He believed Joudrey was the perpetrator because the last thing he could remember was telling someone to get their hands off of him (Horner). Witnesses also testified that the group was friendly inside the bar and seemed to all get along. Immediately following the attack on Mr. Horner, Dixon PD arrived and were told a report was not necessary. Seven months later, Joudrey was charged.
Joudrey testified that he did not assault anyone and that even he could not recall what happened due to being hit from behiind after crossing the street. Joudrey descirbed the impact as similar to being hit by a car, in that one of his feet came out of one of his shoes and he also lost his glasses after immediately hitting the sidewalk. Joudrey sought received treatment immediately after the incidetn adn his E.R. Doctor testified she saw no blood or injuries to Joudrey's hands. A fact that would have been noted in the treating notes of his medical records.
The success of the defense can be linked to Fairfield Criminal Defense Attorney Vincent R. Maher from The Maher Law Group, APC – who represented Joudrey – with his tenacious cross examination he was able to illustrate the many inconsistancies coming from the 6-7 prosecution witnesses who gave varying accounts of what they recalled.(You can read a full article on this case by The Reporter Home and another by the Daily Republic here.)
If you are facing criminal charges that you believe are inaccurate, exaggerated, or false, allow our team to defend your rights in and out of court. Our firm is fronted by California State Bar Criminal Specialist Vincent R. Maher – less than 1% of all criminal defense attorneys in the state have achieved this title.
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