A Liar on the Stand

I've been reading a local daily newspaper since I was around 10 years old. I don't know if it's just habit or genetics, but, like my father, I find it hard not to want to share stories from the paper, particularly outrageous ones. After 30-some years, my other half mostly ignores this, no matter how dramatic the reading or retelling.

Today my blog gets it. I will try to keep it short. 

The Star Tribune story is reporting on a Duluth trial, in which an off-duty fire-fighter is charged with assault. In court, he had testified the day before that he was defending himself, so that's what the ridiculous headline repeats.

But the gist is that a 60+-year-old woman named Mary Modec was running on a path in one direction. The fire-fighter, Conrad Sunde IV, was riding a bike in the other direction on a nearby separate path with his three dogs, who were unleashed. Duluth requires owners to have their dogs on leashes. 

As they passed each other, Modec called out to Sunde that he was violating the law. They exchanged words, including him saying "Maybe you should be on a leash." She reached for her phone to photograph him so she could report him, at which point he used his bike to knock her to the ground, then either fell on her or jumped on her. He grabbed her phone and threw it 150 feet away. (That's half a football field!)

Modec was left with a bloodied face, broken nose and glasses, a "permanently bruised eye," and will have to have surgery to restore her breathing to normal. (There's a bit more description of the situation and the assault in this story.)

Sunde got on the witness stand yesterday and claimed that he saw the Mace canister that Mode wore around her neck and thought she was attacking him, so he was defending himself. "I was in fear of my safety. I thought I was going to get sprayed."

Modec says he pushed her face into ground, which sounds consistent with her injuries.

Not only should Sunde be convicted of assault, he should never be allowed to hold a position of public trust again when he gets out of prison. He's either a liar or he's so paranoid his judgment can't be trusted. Personally, I think he's a liar with an anger problem. Occam's Razor applies here.