Guilty Verdict in ‘Aggravated’ Rochester Domestic Assault Case

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An Olmsted County jury has found a Rochester man guilty of 17 domestic assault-related charges connected to multiple attacks on a woman last fall.

The long list of charges covered by the guilty verdict against 31-year-old Karlwin Richards includes domestic assault, stalking, and violating no-contact orders. The jury also granted a prosecution request to add an aggravating factor in the verdict and found Richards to be a danger to public safety.

He was arrested last November after police were called to the apartment complex where the victim lived with Richards after a neighbor reported seeing her in the hallway suffering from head and other injuries. Before the other resident was able to call 911, Richards appeared and dragged the woman down the hallway. The officers eventually found the victim, who was suffering from significant injuries and was taken to the hospital.

The criminal complaint says an officer observed the woman "had two black, swollen eyes, and was bruised all over her face and had multiple lumps on her forehead." The officer also observed what appeared to be a boot mark on her upper arm and bruising on other parts of her body. Investigators also reported that a security camera video also showed Richard throwing the victim to the ground and punching her.

Richards had previously been ordered not to have any contact with the woman after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting her last January. He also has seven domestic violence-related convictions on his criminal record dating back five years.

A sentencing hearing for Richards has not yet been scheduled.

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