Monitor Editor
STARKE— A Keystone Heights man scheduled to go on trial in Starke for domestic battery instead pleaded to harassing a witness while the state dropped the original battery charge.
James David Howard, 31, was arrested by Bradford deputies on Dec. 14, 2021, for domestic battery.
According to an arrest report, after the defendant’s live-in girlfriend told him she was moving out, the defendant hit her in the back of the head several times and once in the mouth.
Howard told a deputy that the victim open-hand slapped him in the face. However, the deputy observed no visible injuries to the defendant.
County Judge D. Tatum Davis sentenced Howard to 15 days in jail and 12 months’ probation.
