Robert Childress's Appeal

My husband Robert Childress was in a bar on the night of October 17, 2003 watching his friend's sister singing at a bar. This rather large, intoxicated man came up to him claiming to be "the Arm Wrestling Champion" and grabbed my husband by the arm. My husband had no idea who this man was and was attempting to get his arm away from this man. My husband was sitting on a bar stool and when he pulled his arm way from this guy he fell off of his bar stool and landed on the ground and this guy landed on top of him. My husband managed to get his leg up and wedged his foot onto this guys chest and pushed the guy off of him. The man landed on top of the tables nearby with beer bottles and glasses on them. All the glass fell off the tables and onto the floor, they was glass everywhere. A scuffle started and during the scuffle my husband's friend got severely cut requiring many stitches and the man that started the altercation got his head cut requiring stitches.

This man wanted to press charges and therefore, they arrested my husband for Assault and Battery. I bailed my husband out of jail but during the Preliminary Hearing the Judge decided changed my husband's charges to Attempted Murder and increased his bail to $1,020,000.00, my husband's PD got the Attempted Murder Charges Dropped but the Judge refused to reduce the bail so my husband stood in jail with $1,020,000 bail for Assault.

During the jury trial my husband had witnesses who saw the entire incident and told their story and the man that started this altercation had his witnesses who changed their story every time they told it. Well the jury believe this man's witnesses and not my husband's and they found my husband guilty of Assault with Great Bodily Injury. Although my husband has never been in trouble before and the Probation Department wrote a very favorable report requesting they put my husband on probation the judge decided not to take any of this into consideration and sentenced my husband to 6 years at 85\% because it is considered a violent crime.

We are attempting to appeal this decision and his appeal attorney is filing a Wende Brief so my husband can write his own brief to include with his attorney's brief so I would like to include this petition with my husband's brief.

We feel my husband was unfairly judged and he received a much harsher sentence then he should have received and I would like you to sign this petition if you agree.