BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—After two days of testimony, including defendant Timothy Carnes taking the stand in his own defense, a jury consisting of six men and six women deliberated for less than two hours before finding Carnes guilty of one count of felonious assault. However, he was acquitted of the charge of felonious strangulation.
The victim, Tiffany Carnes, had been estranged from her husband Timothy for approximately two years. Despite their separation, the two still maintained a sexual relationship.
Tiffany Carnes suffered severe injuries as a result of the assault, including a concussion, a broken foot, cuts, lacerations, and a brain bleed. She was taken by ambulance from the police department where she had reported the assault and was transferred to OSU hospital in Columbus due to the brain bleed.
During his testimony, Timothy Carnes maintained that he never hit his estranged wife and claimed that she was the aggressor, and he had only pushed her off him.
He told the jury that his wife had fallen in her bathroom after fell asleep and had suffered a head injury, which occurred approximately five weeks prior to the assault.
Prosecutors presented jailhouse calls between Carnes and his mother, where Carnes could be heard yelling at his mother for not being able to pay his bond and disowning her as his mother.
Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hoovler confronted Carnes about his tendency to belittle others when he doesn’t get his way. Carnes admitted to belittling others when he feels belittled himself.
Hoovler questioned Carnes about his anger when he doesn’t get what he wants, and Carnes responded that he was angry because he believed he was in jail for something he didn’t do. Hoovler then pointed out Carnes’ pattern of threatening and manipulating others when he doesn’t get his way.
Hoovler asked Carnes why he would even shove a woman whom he believed had suffered a head injury just weeks before. Carnes claimed that he did not shove her forcefully but became angry when she stretched out his t-shirt.
Defense attorney Tom Nicholson attempted to argue that both Tim and Tiffany Carnes used meth and exchanged equally vile text messages to each other but continued to engage in a sexual relationship. He maintained his client did not assault his wife.
After the jury rendered its verdict, Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold ordered Carnes to be held for sentencing at a later date.
Crawford County Now will continue to follow this story.