JASPER, Tenn. — For the second time in less than a month, charges filed against a South Pittsburg man were dropped after problems arose with witness testimony, authorities said.
Rashad Tipton, 24, was charged in December with aggravated assault and assault for reportedly beating his 18-year-old girlfriend with a two-by-four and throwing a space heater at her, South Pittsburg Police Chief Mark Garner said.
But General Sessions Judge Mark Raines on Wednesday dismissed the charges after the victim failed to appear and a witness said he couldn’t identify Mr. Tipton, the chief said.
Chief Garner said testimony Wednesday differed from statements made to police during the investigation in December.
“At least one of the witnesses is going to be charged with making a false statement,” Chief Garner said.
“We may see if the D.A.’s office will let us present our evidence to the grand jury,” he said. “He (Mr. Tipton) is not out of the woods yet.”
Chattanooga defense attorney Martin Levitt said Judge Raines dismissed the charges “because the state didn’t have the proof there that convinced him that there was probable cause.”
“Witnesses today were not very helpful to the state,” Mr. Levitt said.
On Feb. 20, Hamilton County charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault against Mr. Tipton were dropped when the victim and a key witness didn’t show up in court, records show. Those charges were connected with a Aug. 2, 2007, shooting in Chattanooga.
Marion County Sheriff Ronnie “Bo” Burnett said domestic violence cases that fall apart because of problems with testimony frustrate authorities.
“I’d just like to know why” witnesses change their stories, Sheriff Burnett said.
He said Mr. Tipton remains in jail now on a violation of probation charge stemming from a 2003 conviction for criminal attempt to commit voluntary manslaughter. That charge was reduced from first-degree murder, he said.
Marion County court records show that since 2001 Mr. Tipton has been charged four times with assault, once with first-degree murder, once with DUI and once with violating the seat belt law, the sheriff said.
“Everything he’s got here is cleared up except for the violation of probation,” he said.
Assistant District Attorney David McGovern said the state will pursue the violation of probation against him “diligently.”
Mr. Tipton is scheduled to appear in court March 24 for a bond revocation hearing.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
