For the second time in Schuylkill County Court, Melissa Kent testified Monday about what she said her ex-husband did to her last September after finding out she was with another man.
"He told me I wasn't going to live on this earth another day," Melissa Kent testified to the jury hearing the case of Kyle C. Kent, 32, of Mount Carmel, who did not visibly react while she spoke.
Melissa Kent's testimony highlighted the first day of the retrial of her ex-husband on seven charges stemming from the alleged incident Sept. 18, 2011, that started in Girardville and continued near Aristes, Columbia County.
The trial, over which Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin is presiding, is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. today with Assistant District Attorney Rebecca A. Elo continuing to present her case.
Kyle Kent is charged with aggravated assault, burglary, criminal trespass, stalking, unlawful restraint, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
At his first trial, a jury on June 7 acquitted Kyle Kent of kidnapping and terroristic threats, but was hung on the other seven charges. Because the jury did not reach a verdict on them, the defendant can be retried on the seven remaining charges without violating the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy.
Dolbin, who also presided over the first trial, found Kyle Kent guilty of two summary charges, criminal mischief and harassment, and sentenced him to pay costs, $600 in fines and $259.58 restitution.
State police at Frackville alleged Kyle Kent assaulted his ex-wife from the 334 E. Mahanoy Ave. home of her boyfriend, Ronald T. Krick, about 6 p.m. Sept. 18, forced her into his sport utility vehicle and continued to assault her while driving her to road near Aristes, where he ended the assault.
"Kyle had me by my shirt and my hair," Melissa Kent said. "He's smacking me, punching me, grabbing my hair."
Melissa Kent said that when she tried to escape near Aristes, the defendant grabbed her and smashed her face into the ground.
"Did it hurt?" Elo asked Melissa Kent,
"Yes," she answered. "There was blood pouring down my face."
When cross-examined by Stephen P. Ellwood, Pottsville, Kyle Kent's lawyer, Melissa Kent said she had had a drug problem, which resulted in her losing custody of her children, and that she had not thought Kyle Kent would go to Girardville to assault her.
Krick testified he was not in the house when Kyle Kent arrived, instead being with a friend. He said he had left a gun with Melissa Kent so she could protect herself; she testified she was unable to operate it.
Krick also testified that when he returned home, he saw the back kitchen door was damaged and had a bootprint on it.
Other witnesses included:
- State police Trooper Arthur D. Wink Jr., who identified the print on the door as a bootprint.
- Mount Carmel police Officer Shane Reamer, who helped look for Kyle Kent.
- Corey Kent, the defendant's brother, who said Kyle Kent refused to tell him where he was when he talked with him on the telephone after the alleged incident.
- Dr. Eric Maur, director of emergency medicine at Geisinger-Shamokin, who testified about Melissa Kent's injuries.
"She had multiple bruises on various parts of the body," plus a fracture in her face, Maur testified.