Jury splits verdict for man charged with assault

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Colbert Fairley was convicted Thursday of domestic assault and acquitted of two counts of forcible sodomy following a two-day trial in Poplar Bluff on a change of venue from Cape Girardeau.

The jury deliberated for just less than an hour and a half before reaching its verdict.

The victim, Fairley's ex-girlfriend, described in her testimony Wednesday arriving at Farley's apartment June 13 to collect some belongings she'd left there.

She was then subjected to what Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle called "two hours of terror," as Fairley began striking and trying to choke her.

In the second half of the case, the jury heard testimony from a Wal-Mart cashier who saw Fairley, 47, with the then-21-year-old victim after he'd allegedly spent the afternoon beating and sexually assaulting her in his apartment.

She testified that the two acted flirty with each other and that she didn't see any bruises on the woman's face, contradicting the victim's testimony Wednesday that Fairley gripped her arm the entire time.

She had glasses on, Swingle said, and the bruises were not noticeable while they were on but highly visible once she took them off.

Jacob Zimmerman, attorney for Fairley, argued that the case boiled down to the victim's "inconsistencies, lies and ridiculous stories," citing several times her story change from the preliminary hearing to the deposition to the trial.

During her testimony Wednesday, the victim described an ominous phone call she received June 13. The caller told her Fairley had stopped by her place of employment, a Cape Girardeau restaurant, and hit the windshield of her car, demanding to know if she had another boyfriend, but the victim named a different caller at trial than at a previous hearing.

Her story also varied on whether she was clothed or naked when she was assaulted the second time in Fairley's apartment.

Zimmerman argued the victim used emotions to attempt to manipulate the jury and that he didn't believe her tears were genuine because she was able to turn them on and off.

Swingle countered that the victim gave an honest, heartfelt account of her assault. Swingle said he plans to seek the maximum sentence, seven years' incarceration, for the assault conviction.

Fairley has a prior conviction for second-degree murder and served 18 years of a life sentence.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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