Ex-Lawyer Avoids More Jail Time After Plea in Client Bat-Beating Case
A former West Virginia lawyer accused of beating a client with a baseball bat has been sentenced to one to five years of home confinement.
Joshua Robinson of Charleston, 38, was sentenced Wednesday after entering a Kennedy plea to unlawful wounding, a felony, in April, according to the Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail. In a Kennedy plea, a defendant doesn’t admit guilt but acknowledges there is no genuine defense to the charge. He spent 45 days in jail as the case was pending, but was released to home confinement after he was attacked in jail.
Robinson apologized at the hearing, according to the Charleston Gazette account. “I will never take my freedom for granted again,” he said. “I let my emotions handle my actions that day, instead of my intelligence.”
The client, David Lee Gump II, has been arrested on drug charges since the incident and refused to cooperate in Robinson’s case.
Robinson initially told police that he was defending himself against a client who had broken into his home. Police later said the client, who had hired Robinson to help with his grandfather’s estate, had gone to Robinson’s home to find out why the lawyer had cashed a check for $1,100 made out to the grandfather.
A neighbor who called 911 had said Robinson was chasing the client around the street with a baseball bat and was “swinging wild, like a madman.” His license has since been revoked.
