Case Summaries

DANIEL JAMES HART
Hart, 32, was charged with felony domestic assault and domestic assault by strangulation (felony) for assaulting his girlfriend. The victim told police that Hart grabbed and squeezed her throat, then lifted her in the air and slammed her to the floor. When she started to scream, he got on top of her and again put his hands around her throat and squeezed, punched her in the eye, and grabbed her throat again.

Hart pleaded guilty to the domestic assault charge, and the domestic assault by strangulation charge was dismissed. Judge Stephen Swanson sentenced him to 18 months in prison stayed for three years. Conditions of his probation included: 120 days in the workhouse with credit for 35 days served, supply a DNA sample, random drug testing, cognitive skills training, no contact with the victim, and domestic abuse counseling/treatment. Deborah Russell was the prosecutor,and David Cohoes was the defense attorney.

FREDDY NMN ORTIZ-GONZALEZ
Ortiz-Gonzalez, 46, was charged with domestic assault by strangulation (felony) and gross misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child for assaulting his son. A school nurse, reporting the abuse to police, stated that the victim, age 14, came to her office reporting difficulty breathing and soreness in his neck. He told the nurse his father became angry at how he was washing dishes, grabbed him around the neck, and squeezed so hard he could not breathe. He then grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him down the hallway and into his bedroom. Police observed swelling and red marks on the child’s neck.

Ortiz-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to malicious punishment of a child, and the domestic assault by strangulation charge was dismissed. Judge Daniel Moreno stayed imposition of his sentence and placed him on supervised probation for two years with the following conditions: three days in the workhouse with credit for three days served, psychological evaluation/treatment, and continued mental health therapy. Juanita Freeman was the prosecutor, and Michelle Monteiro was the defense attorney.

EUGENE SYLVESTER REDDAY
Redday, 28, was charged with two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct for sexually assaulting his eight-yearold nephew. After the victim’s mother reported the abuse to Minneapolis police, the boy was interviewed at CornerHouse Interagency Child Abuse Evaluation and Training Center, where he described the assaults and said that Redday threatened to hit him if he told anyone.

Redday was convicted by a jury of both counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct. At the sentencing hearing the prosecutor spoke on behalf of the victim’s mother, who asked for an appropriate sentence so that Redday would not be able to do this again to another child. Judge Mark Wernick sentenced him to concurrent sentences of 320 months in prison for count one and 234 months in prison for count two with credit for 299 days served. The sentences included the following conditions: supply a DNA sample and pay restitution as determined for counseling. The prosecutor was Juanita Freeman, and Kevin Des Lauriers was the defense attorney.

CHRISTOPHER LEE TATE
Tate, 33, was charged with two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second degree criminal sexual conduct for sexually abusing his son’s friend last year. The victim, age 15, reported she was spending the night at her friend’s house when Tate sexually assaulted her.

Tate is a level II sex offender with two prior sexual assault convictions. He was convicted in 2007 of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct for sexually assaulting a stranger in a Minneapolis alley. As part of his sentence Tate was ordered to attend a sex offender program, which he did not complete. WATCH was unable to find information regarding the other sexual assault conviction.

A jury convicted Tate on all four counts in the 2010 case. At his sentencing hearing, the prosecutor read the victim’s impact statement in which she spoke about her mistrust of men and her loss of confidence. Judge Daniel Moreno sentenced Tate to life in prison, an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines, with credit for 374 days. He will be eligible for parole after serving 234 months. Krista Bettinger was the prosecutor, and Juanita Kyle was the defense attorney.

This article appears in the Summer 2011 WATCH newsletter. You can download the entire issue (as a .pdf) here.