Boyd avoids more jail, felony conviction in police-assault case

With the charges amended from felonies to misdemeanor assaults, Renee Boyd's second plea hearing went far smoother than the first.

She could live with the probation she would receive, she said, as long as that was the end of it.

"I don't want to go to trial," she said before the hearing. "I'd have a 50-50 chance. It would really just depend on the jury I would be having."

Boyd, who suffers from several mental disorders, including Tourette syndrome, had been arrested when a Cape Girardeau police officer tried to detain her after she'd gone missing in the midst of a mental episode. She'd been off her medications for months and had run from the officer when he tried to approach her. During the arrest, her struggling had been enough for the prosecuting attorney's office to charge her with felony assault.

The Southeast Missourian profiled Boyd's case as she spent time in jail and her case moved through the court system.

She found herself in court Monday nine months after the chaotic scuffle that had landed her in jail, and she was minutes away from putting an end to it. All she had to do was plead guilty on all three counts, which still were for assaulting law-enforcement officers and a paramedic but amended to misdemeanor counts.

Prosecutors on Monday recommended 90 days' jail time under suspended execution of sentence, meaning she would be formally convicted but not serve the time unless she violated parole.

Her lawyer asked Judge Michael Gardner for suspended imposition of sentence instead, which would allow her to keep the conviction off her record as long as she met probation requirements.

The prosecutor said for assaulting two police officers and a paramedic, she ought to at least be convicted. Boyd's lawyer, Gordon Glaus, said the 39 days she'd served should be enough.

"She's already been punished," Glaus said, adding if Boyd indeed was a violent person, the court easily could revoke her probation and stick her with three years.

But she had no criminal record before this incident, he pointed out.

"I don't think you'll ever see her again," he told the judge.

"I am, um, truly sorry that all of this happened," Boyd said. "I wish I could take everything back. ... I think it's just a big mistake ... on my part."

Gardner agreed, granting her the suspended imposition of sentence and probation.

"I don't feel as relieved as I thought I would," she said outside the courthouse afterward. "I really wish everything could have been less, but I do understand ... I wasn't in a right state of mind."

She said going forward, she realizes how seriously her mental disorders have to be managed.

"I gotta make sure I'm on my medications, that's for sure. I can't be without it ever again, because this is what happens," she said. "It can't happen ever again. I never realized how bad I could get without it."

She spent the better part of 2016 facing serious accusations, which she said wasn't easy.

"I've never dealt with something like this before," she said. "It made me feel like a criminal, I guess. ... Felt kind of worthless, a little. But I don't feel that way anymore."

"It's been stressful, but you know, when it comes down to it, she's a good person," said Boyd's girlfriend, Rachel Hornback. "And she didn't deserve this in the first place."

But now, they could go home and truly relax. After all, Thanksgiving was right around the corner and they had cooking to do.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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