FARMINGTON — A Massachusetts woman pleaded guilty in the form of an Alford plea Wednesday to pointing a shotgun at an Avon man, threatening violence and beating his truck with the butt of her gun while he was inside the truck on Dec. 21.
Diane J. Bouley, 47, of Erving, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of domestic violence terrorizing in Franklin County Superior Court. Sentencing was delayed for one year.
An Alford plea is based on a defendant’s belief that she is not guilty but thinks that if the jury believed the victim’s testimony, she would be found guilty.
Bouley’s attorney, Christopher Dilworth, said his client told him it was a matter of self-defense, but she understood that if a jury believed the state’s evidence, she faced a mandatory minimum of one year in prison.
Judge Susan Oram told Bouley that she could raise a self-defense argument, but she declined.
A conviction on the charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine and two years of probation, Oram said.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Robbins said if the case went to trial, the victim would testify that the two got into an argument and Bouley got a 12-gauge shotgun out and pointed it at him. He would testify that he had to leave his house and get in his truck, and she came out and continued to point the gun at him and beat his truck with it.
Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Nate Reid would testify that he saw Bouley in the house with the shotgun.
Deputy Kevin Hartley would testify that he seized the pump-action shotgun and it was not loaded. The defendant also admitted to have been drinking, Robbins said.
Dilworth told the judge that Bouley wanted the state to know that the (victim) in the case continued to contact her, but she is not responding.
Oram delayed sentencing for one year to allow Bouley to complete a list of tasks outlined in an agreement. If she is successful, she will be allowed to withdraw her plea to a felony charge.
Among the conditions, she has is not to possess or use any weapons.
She is due back in court on April 29, 2016.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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