Posted 11:33 am Friday, October 16, 2009
Tyler Man Gets 35 Years For Assault Of Public Servant
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
A 23-year-old Tyler man was sentenced to 35 years confinement in the state penitentiary and assessed a $2,500 fine by a jury on Thursday in the 7th District Smith County Court, with Judge Kerry Russell presiding.
Staff Writer
A 23-year-old Tyler man was sentenced to 35 years confinement in the state penitentiary and assessed a $2,500 fine by a jury on Thursday in the 7th District Smith County Court, with Judge Kerry Russell presiding.
Under Texas law, Jaime Guerrero will have to serve at least 17 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. He was charged with aggravated assault of a public servant, and had pleaded not guilty.
Guerrero could have received a sentence ranging from a minimum of five years to a maximum of 99 years or life, and a $10,000 fine. Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance asked for Guerrero to receive the maximum. It is possible for him to have time reduced from the sentence due to good conduct while in prison.
During punishment phase arguments, Vance told the jury that the standards of community won't be decided by judges, attorneys or police, but by juries.
"Just look at him, sitting over there -- he's smiling and he thinks this is all a joke," Vance said while gesturing toward Guerrero.
"It's you sir, who is the joke," Guerrero responded as bailiffs approached him.
Vance said that Guerrero doesn't care about anything, and that is what makes him dangerous. "He made a bunch of religious references on the tape, but he has no respect for the law, this country, or his mother, after what he said on the tape."
Defense attorney John Jarvis told the jury that Guerrero was a young man who had made some mistakes. "We have a young boy here -- we all make mistakes, but we learn and move on."
"It took him a few minutes to do something that will cost him years," Jarvis said. He went on to say that the Tyler Police Officer Edgar Zapata was not injured, and that the threat was handled professionally.
Guerrero threatened Zapata on Jan. 31 with a knife, telling him he would "scar him for life." Zapata, along with Officer Darrell Cook, were dispatched to the home on North Carlyle after Guerrero's mother, Hermila Guerrero called police.
The officers found Jaime Guerrero in the backyard of the home sniffing spray paint and talking incoherently. After officers confronted Guerrero, he ran from them before falling into a creek, running onto the opposite bank and pulling the knife on Zapata.
