THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996 TAG: 9608290403
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 38 lines
A jury convicted a former Portsmouth police officer Wednesday of assaulting a man at Portside last year while off-duty. The jury recommended a sentence of 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The former mounted patrol officer, Kirby O. Doughtie, 28, of the 1000 block of Owls Creek Lane in Virginia Beach, was originally charged with malicious wounding and could have faced 20 years in prison.
Doughtie was accused of assaulting Bobby ``Knotty'' Zarlengo, 23, of Portsmouth, on Aug. 31 last year at Portside.
Special prosecutor C. Gerard Thompson argued that Doughtie beat Zarlengo, breaking one of his teeth and causing cuts on his chin, face, temple, forehead and back of the head.
``You don't get these injuries from falling down on the ground,'' Thompson said. ``That was done with malice.''
Witnesses testified that Doughtie grabbed Zarlengo by the throat, carried him 10 to 15 feet and slammed him against a phone booth. They testified that Doughtie pushed Zarlengo onto the ground and punched him several times.
But Doughtie's attorney, Stephen E. Heretick, argued that Zarlengo started a confrontation with Doughtie because of an old grudge he held against Doughtie, who used to patrol the Cradock area, where Zarlengo used to live.
Heretick said Doughtie was acting in self-defense after Zarlengo appeared ready to punch him. Heretick said Doughtie pushed Zarlengo away from the Portside crowd and, in the process, the two may have fallen.
``They went down and Knotty's face strikes the pavement without a blow,'' Heretick said, citing Zarlengo's injuries.
Doughtie was hired by the Portsmouth Police Department in 1989, but has not been with the department since last year. It is not known how or why he left.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH POLICE ASSAULT CONVICTION by CNB