Published Saturday, January 18, 2003
of assault
Herald Staff Writer
Despite Charles Norris' testimony Friday that the actions of Crystal Bailey caused a pot of hot oil to fall, burning her, a jury found him guilty of aggravated and simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
On the second and final day of the trial, Norris, 29, of 1225 Roemer Blvd., Farrell, testified that on Sept. 30 he went to the home of Bobbi Sue Edes on Quinby Street, Sharon. He said he and Ms. Bailey argued in the kitchen.
During the argument Norris said he called Ms. Bailey a bitch and she attacked him. He said that wasn't unusual because she had attacked him in the past when he called her a bitch.
Norris claimed the pair had a romantic relationship though Ms. Bailey testified that the only relationship was a friendship that had deteriorated. Norris said the pair lived together "on and off again." Sometimes he would leave if they fought and sometimes he was in jail, Norris said.
After Ms. Bailey attacked him on Sept. 30, Norris said he grabbed her by the knees and threw her to the floor. "I tried to slam her as hard as I possibly could," he said.
Norris said while she was on the ground Ms. Bailey kicked him hard enough to force him into the stove.
"Something fell off the stove, and she started screaming," Norris said. He said he left when Ms. Bailey yelled to call the police but first he put the pot back on the stove.
He said he knew it was oil in the pot because it was on his jeans and his tennis shoes but he didn't get burned.
Norris said he didn't care or ask if Ms. Bailey was hurt because it wasn't the first time they'd fought.
Ms. Bailey, 24, of 805 Ravine Place, Sharon, suffered second- and third-degree burns and said she will have to have skin grafts on part of her body.
Ms. Bailey testified Thursday that Norris attacked her first, and she was picking up a chair to defend herself when he threw the oil on her.
Assistant District Attorney William Moder showed Norris an oil-covered cooking pot. Norris said it wasn't the pot from the incident because that pot was shiny metal and had a longer, metal handle. However, Ms. Bailey and Ms. Edes identified it as the pot from the incident.
Earlier witnesses said oil was splattered all over the kitchen including on the ceiling. Norris on Friday said that testimony wasn't true, and he didn't know how the oil could have gotten that high.
Public Defender Lowell Williams presented a letter written by Ms. Bailey to Norris that Norris said he received in late November or early December. Norris said the letter was a response to one he'd written to Ms. Bailey.
In the letter Ms. Bailey asks Norris to forgive her for the way she treated him. Ms. Bailey said she wrote the letter months earlier -- in January 2002. She said she'd had no communication with him since the fight in September.
Ms. Bailey said she wrote the letter while Norris was in jail for a December 2001 incident in Farrell in which he allegedly hit a woman in the face with a glass and then smashed the broken glass in her face. His trial on that case is expected to begin next week.
Jurors, who deliberated for three hours Friday, acquitted Norris of one count of recklessly endangering another person -- Ms. Bailey's 7-year-old daughter who was in the kitchen at the time.