Jury finds New Philadelphia man guilty of felonious assault after two-day trial

NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ A jury has convicted a New Philadelphia man of felonious assault in connection with a fight at a residence within the city on Dec. 28.

The jury deliberated for about two hours Thursday before finding Jerry Davis , 52, guilty of felonious assault, a second-degree felony.

The charges stem from an incident at a party in New Philadelphia in which Davis was allegedly involved in a fight with another man. Following the fight, the other man was hospitalized for 12 days with injuries which the prosecution said were a result of the fight.

Davis was the only witness for the defense during the two-day trial in the court of Common Pleas Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos.

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Davis had been offered a plea deal. The prosecution offered to lower the charges to aggravated assault, a fourth-degree felony in exchange for a guilty plea, but Davis' attorney, Anthony Koukoutas told the judge during a pre-trial hearing on Monday that Davis was not interested in entering a plea to a felony charge.

"We want to thank the jury for their service and our satisfied with the verdict," said Assistant Prosecutor Fred Scott.

Sentencing is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. Sept. 17. Davis could be sentenced up to 12 years in prison.

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Jury finds New Philadelphia man guilty of felonious assault after two-day trial