... She received bruises on her knees and back... Roger Knott and Alt [Knott’s attorney] said his wife could have been bruised while moving furniture...WHO BELIEVES THAT?
City Officer Acquitted Of Wife’s AssaultConflicting Testimony Kills Case Against Knott
Rocktown Weekly, VA
By David Reynolds
Posted 2007-04-06
HARRISONBURG — A judge acquitted a Harrisonburg police officer of assault and battery after the officer and his wife gave conflicting testimony about an argument they had in January. On Jan. 2, Sgt. Roger Knott, 38, turned himself in to Rockingham County sheriff’s deputies after his wife, Charity Knott, alleged he’d shoved her during an argument. She received bruises on her knees and back, according to court testimony. After more than an hour of testimony in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Thursday, Judge William W. Sharp said it was difficult to ascertain the truth from the two accounts of events. Sharp said that because the other evidence — deputies’ testimony and photos of the woman’s bruises — didn’t refute or confirm either account, he was going to dismiss the misdemeanor charge. Knott and his wife described their argument on Jan. 2, but differed on what started it and how she was bruised. Charity Knott testified that her husband used the door to shove her against the doorframe, causing her injuries. Roger Knott admitted struggling with the door, but said he was removing it from its hinges because he didn’t want it locked. "I never intended to hurt anybody," he said. Danita Alt, Roger Knott’s attorney, questioned the accuser’s credibility and asked whether she drank alcohol before the argument. She admitted she had been drinking. Roger Knott and Alt said his wife could have been bruised while moving furniture. Special Prosecutor Albert Mitchell, the commonwealth’s attorney in Shenandoah County, said Charity Knott was credible and that she had reported the incident to police right after the argument. After the hearing, Lt. Kurt Boshart, spokesman for the Harrisonburg Police Department, said Roger Knott had been on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case. Now acquitted, he will return to his job. Contact David Reynolds at 574-6278 or reynolds@dnronline.com
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