Trial halted, defendant pleads guilty

A trial was stopped today in the Oconee General Sessions Court, and the outcome proved unsettling for the victim and others involved in what grew out of an incident last summer at a Walhalla mobile home. Judge Newman made the decision to stop the trial of Taheem Anthony Lewis after the defense attorney told of an incident last night in which the victim approached a trial witness at a cell phone store. Lewis pleaded guilty to four charges, including a charge reduced to domestic violence first degree. Assistant Solicitor Beth Blundy wanted a sentence of consecutive maximum sentences that would have amounted to 11 years, 60 days. But Newman responded with concurrent sentences that total eight years and three years’ probation, with the conditions that Lewis receive counseling, including anger management. Lewis is 27 years old. Although the judge explained why she felt that the defendant needs counseling, along with the eight years, the victim and members of her family were unhappy. Alana Young’s mother, Melissa Young Hancock, told 101.7/WGOG NEWS: “I’m very sad and disappointed in the Solicitor’s Office for Oconee County. I feel like my child was made out to be the villain, not the victim.” Under questioning by the judge, Lewis admitted that he took the woman’s phone and smashed it and choked her, breaking her elbow. But he denied that he had stabbed her on the head with a griddle fork. Newman lectured Lewis that, regardless of whether a man loses his temper, it’s not all right to strike a woman.