Hammered!
A Fort Lauderdale police officer responded to an apartment complex in reference to a 911 call about sounds of fighting inside one of the apartments. Upon arrival, he found the door to the apartment in question ajar. After opening the door, he saw Kendrick H straddling his roommate’s chest while holding a hammer in his right hand. He also observed that the roommate had a severe injury to his left hand caused by the claw end of the hammer. Kendrick was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon causing permanent injury. Kendrick was looking at a possible 15 year prison sentence.
At trial, I argued that this was a mutual combat incident and that it was the roommate who had the hammer and attempted to use it against Kendrick. I suggested that officer Hersh witnessed the incident immediately after Kendrick wrestled the hammer away from the roommate. The jury accepted my version and acquitted Kendrick.
