All of you fine citizens that supported this fine citizen yesterday, including the web master, are found to be wrong by the jury and judge. I feel certain the web master will remove this post for policy violation.
Michael C. Clay faces 35 years in prison after being convicted of assault charges Tuesday. Soon he will face trial in Richmond County Superior Court for multiple counts that include rape and aggravated sodomy and one count of murder.
Mr. Clay, 26, of the 1900 block of Lionel Street, stood trial this week for beating his pregnant girlfriend, Kimberly Wright, with his fist and running over high school student David Barnes on his way to the bus stop.
The jury deliberated about 2.5 hours before convicting Mr. Clay of aggravated assault and serious injury by vehicle.
Because of a prior drug conviction, Mr. Clay faces the maximum sentence for each crime, but the judge can sentence him to probation for some or all of the time. A sentencing date has not been set.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're not here about a Valentine's Day gone bad," District Attorney Ashley Wright said to the jury in closing arguments.
Mr. Clay told investigators that things got ugly with Ms. Wright, who isn't related to the district attorney, when he left her the night of Feb. 14, 2006, to spend time with another girlfriend.
Ms. Wright told the jury Monday that Mr. Clay punched her repeatedly, kicked her and at one point tried to wrap plastic over her head to smother her. He fractured her jaw in three places and broke several teeth.
She said the violence continued when Mr. Clay was supposedly driving her to the hospital and ran over Mr. Barnes, who was crossing East Boundary Street.
Defense attorney Peter Johnson asked the jury to find Mr. Clay guilty of battery and hit and run, both misdemeanors.
Mr. Clay still faces charges filed against him over attacks on five women in May, June and July 2000 and in January 2006.
One of those women, Sherry Rose Murphy, 43, died Oct. 13, 2006, eight months after she was attacked and left in a coma.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Michael C. Clay still faces charges of murder, rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated assault, robbery and aggravated sexual battery and will stand trial at a later date.
All of you fine citizens that supported this fine citizen yesterday, including the web master, are found to be wrong by the jury and judge. I feel certain the web master will remove this post for policy violation.
Justus4 - How can you imply this verdict was determined by the race of the jury? Don't you think the testimony by the victims in this case proved this man guilt? It's people like you that continue to stir the pot of racism.
justass4, do you like beating up on women, too? I hope this [filtered word] gets no probation. That's just wrong!
Who cares what the jury make up was? They found him guilty. Just like a Judge, the jury is sworn to equal and fairly follow the guidelines of the law. You sound as if the race of the defendant and the race of the members of the jury matters. All that matters is that the law be carryout in a fair and applicable manner.
Justus4 come on bro, you gotta be kidding me. I understand your aprehension with trusting the judicial system, but you're killing me with this one, i'm starting to think paranoia is kicking in with you. He should just be glad he's going to jail, with all the chaos he created, thank god it wasn't my sister, or i'd be facing charges, keep your hands off the women and get some discipline. Adults kill me with acting out the way they do. So long Mr. Clay !@#$%.
Justus4, you are correct, he did not have a jury of his peers. His peers are womanizing, drug addicts, that don't give a damn about people crossing the street. If you ain't one of his homeys then you are not crap. His peers think woman are for sex and beating, and not necessarily in that order. However, fortunely the jury was more reflective of the general population of Augusta. The citizens that were called to jury duty were not previously convicted of drug offenses, and have a true concern for the well being of their family, friends, and even strangers crossing the street. In fact they care more for this [filtered word]'s girlfriends than he does. The fact that she was pregnant did not deter Mr. Clay, but I am sure that it had meaning to the jury. He would have been happy to rid himself of Ms. Wright, because they were plenty of hos waiting in the wings. Now I hope he gets to know what is to be treated like some thugs ho.
Justus4 perhaps the jury should have been made up of 12 idiots who think like you---by the way are you a mental health patient or what? And if you truely want to know the jury make-up as I stated before.....DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!! And I bet you will be surprised. Our justice system has flaws true enough, but what man created thing does not? Simply again....we must go beyond what we think and look for the facts....and that is exactly what a jury did in this mans case. And back to you Justus4 what about all of the other charges against this man stemming from 2000-2006? Did people just say "Hey let's all go out and get Mr.Clay" Come on you have got to be more intelligent than that....but then again maybe not.....
hook him up with your sister justus.......... it is hard for an all white jury to understand another cultures foreplay methods.
He looks like the Mets first baseman Delgado.
Thank God for justice!!!!
justus4, I sometime agree with you, but this time you are off base.Forget color, think crime.The so-called man should,have been shot dead, before he went to trial, that way, we would have known that justice was served.
Justus is right there is no REAL justice for this scumbag. REAL justice would be him at the rec.'ing end of what he has dished out in life.
If justus and his buds (if he has any) spent more time investigating some of their idiotic claims than being the first one to throw the race card on ANY article, he could answer some of his own questions. Here's a thought, the majority of these trials ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! So why don't you go see for yourself what the "jury makeup" is? And instead of using "jury makeup" why don't you just say "how many African-Americans!" But alas, justus doesn't dare heed this advice because that would involve him actually confronting his fear that his race crying is totally unfounded. See you on the next article, justus!! Also good catch Rino, he does look like Delgado, haha
As I predicted yesterday, this man was found guilty of these charges.And another fact of the case is brought out here that was not mentioned in yesteday's article,"Mr. Clay told investigators that things got ugly with Ms. Wright, --- when he left her the night of Feb. 14, 2006, to spend time with another girlfriend." Now , this is a real man. He wants to leave his pregnant girlfriend to spend time with another girl on Valetine's day and most likely had intentions of impregnating her also. I do not know who the presiding judge in this case is, but I hope he is not one of those bleeeding heart liberals who has a soft spot for men who abuse women, and will sentence this maniac to the maximum. With the other charges and trials coming up, hopefully he will never return to the streets. FEDUPWITYOUALLOPINION: I am on your side in this matter. This monster does not deserve one bit of sympathy from the judge or anyone else. Even his lawyer knew he was guilty, because he wanted the jury to find him guilty of lesser charges. (Augusta Chronicle,web posting, May 20,2009 11:19am)
I really believe after this remark Justus is not for real he is a Devils advocate.
ignorance run rampid!
Justus obviously thinks that a man beating a pregnant women is ok. Before I thought that he was just paranoid but now he has shown himself for the piece of crap that he really is.
I think we should send the investigators over to your house.. you with your 40 cal bullet.. silent, with talk like that I'm they'd find something.
Justus, maybe you should introduce this fine young man to a female in your family. I think your opinion would be quite different if this had been your sister, cousin, or someone you loved.