Man who choked girlfriend seeks break on domestic battery sentence
An attorney argued that because a man was sentenced to prison for two felonies for coercion and domestic battery with strangulation, prosecutors couldn’t seek a consecutive sentence for misdemeanor domestic battery and stalking.
Aidan Lee Knight, 21, appeared in Tahoe Township Justice Court on Tuesday where he was convicted of domestic battery and stalking against the same survivor he admitted trying to strangle when she was 16.
Knight is serving a 2-5-year prison sentence in a Dec. 17, 2024, in connection with that case. He admitted those charges and was sentenced in June.
Justice of the Peace Michael Johnson delayed sentencing on the misdemeanors while Jason Gunnell and Chelsea Mazza determine the legality of making those sentences consecutive to his prison term. Knight is scheduled to return on Oct. 13.
Gunnell asked for concurrent sentences for the domestic battery and stalking charges, but Mazza sought to have 120-day suspended sentences consecutive to the prison term, which means he would serve them upon his release.
Knight said he and the survivor were still boyfriend and girlfriend and that he hoped to move past the beating he gave her. Gunnell was quick to counter that statement, since Knight has been under a no-contact order since shortly after the incident.
“This is more of a wish on Mr. Knight’s part,” Gunnell said.
Knight agreed saying he hasn’t talked to her directly, which would constitute a new crime, but has heard from people who know her.
• A South Lake Tahoe man is seeking to represent himself in a July 13 felony domestic battery case.
Garret Richard Vanwey, 29, appeared in Tahoe Township Justice Court on Tuesday with attorney Max Stovall prior to a preliminary hearing set for next week.
Vanwey is accused of using a hammer to question his former girlfriend after he tied her up. He was arrested on July 19. According to the Sheriff’s Report he is on probation in El Dorado County and has domestic battery convictions in 2020 and 2023. A third domestic battery in seven years is a felony.
