A Fall River County woman convicted for brandishing a broken gun at law officers and kicking a deputy has failed to have her conviction overturned.
The South Dakota Supreme Court has reaffirmed that a person can be charged with aggravated assault even if she knows her gun doesn’t work.
Relying on information from the court’s opinion, Victoria Wicks reports for SDPB.
In June 2018, two Fall River County deputies responded to a report of domestic violence and went to the rural home of Judy Schumacher and her husband.
After a series of events, the deputies stood outside a closed and locked gate, with Judy Schumacher on the other side walking up the driveway toward them. The deputies’ microphones and camera recorded what happened.
Schumacher carried a .22 caliber revolver with the barrel resting on her shoulder.
The deputies told her to drop the gun as they drew their own weapons and took cover behind their vehicle.
Schumacher did not drop the pistol, but when she reached the gate, she repositioned the gun and put it on top of a fence post. When deputies ordered her to step away from it, she refused. Her husband arrived and put an end to the standoff, handing the pistol to the deputies.
After securing the gun, the deputies climbed over the gate to arrest Judy Schumacher. As they were handcuffing her, she kicked one of the deputies and tried to stomp on his foot.
Before and during trial, Schumacher unsuccessfully sought dismissal of two counts of aggravated assault because the gun was inoperable, a fact she knew when she brandished it.
She said the simple assault should be dismissed because there was no evidence that the deputy was injured.
And she asked that the jury be instructed that her gun was not a “deadly weapon” as defined by law.
The Supreme Court unanimously upholds the trial judge’s denials of her motions.
Justices say a gun is designed to fire bullets, and if the victim believes the gun can do what it’s supposed to do, then the victim is put in fear of imminent death or serious injury, and the elements of aggravated assault are met.
As for simple assault, justices say there is evidence that the deputy was injured. In recorded audio, the kicked deputy is heard yelling “Ouch.”
- -Contact SDPB’s Victoria Wicks by email.