Charleston man charged in four-year-old domestic battery incident

WINFIELD – In addition to being free on bond on a four-year old domestic battery charge in Putnam County, a Charleston man faces the prospect of going to jail for violating the terms of his bond in a more recent domestic violence-related incident in Kanawha County.

On March 13, Jonathan D. Carter, 31, was arrested and charged with two counts of domestic battery stemming from an incident that occurred at the home of his parents, William and Dixie Carter, in December 2003. The case was placed in an inactive status on Feb. 10, 2005, but reactivated on March 11 when the Putnam County Sheriff's Department filed a new warrant.

According to court records, Jonathan got into an argument with his now estranged wife, Amy, at the Carter's residence in Hometown on Dec. 18, 2003. In the complaint he filed with Putnam Magistrate Kim Blair, Sheriff's Deputy A.J. Craigo said Jonathan "tried to choke her [Amy] with his hands around her throat even though she is pregnant."

In the course of the argument, court records show that Jonathan threw Amy to the floor, and jumped on her. The records show William then pulled him off.

After getting up, Amy ran into the bathroom and locked herself inside, records show. Though he briefly departed the house, Jonathan returned, pushing his father aside and yelling at Amy though the locked door.

According to Craigo's report, Jonathan "threatened to kill her when he saw her again." Shortly after that, and prior to Craigo's arrival, Jonathan fled the scene on foot.

After Amy was taken to the hospital, Craigo filed his complaint with Blair. Finding probable cause, she charged Jonathan with two counts of domestic battery, one for Amy, and the other for William
Following a hearing he was attending at the Kanawha Judicial Annex, Kanawha Sheriff's deputies served the newly filed warrant on Carter.

According to court records, he was released on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond.

Prior to his release March 13 on the domestic battery charges, Carter was already on bond for multiple violations of a protective order Amy had on him. Records show Carter was first charged with three counts of violating a protective order on Jan. 7 when he called Amy 11 times, leaving three voice messages, between Dec. 19, 2007 and Jan. 3, and again on Feb. 23 after he allegedly attacked a male friend of Amy's with a shovel on Feb. 18.

Following his arrest on Jan. 8, Carter was released on a $2,500 personal recognizance bond. After spending the weekend in the South Central Regional Jail on charges of assault and violating a protective order stemming from the Feb. 18 attack, Carter was released on a $2,500 cash bond that Dixie posted on Feb. 25.

According to court records, the Kanawha County Prosecutor's Office filed a motion on March 6 with Magistrate Carol Fouty to revoke Carter's bond in the two cases. In her motion, Assistant Prosecutor Olubunmi Kusimo alleges that both during and after his weekend stay at South Central, Jonathan contacted Amy via telephone.

Because this contact was in direct violation of both Kanawha Family Law Judge Mike Kelly's original Dec. 19 protective order, and the terms of Carter's subsequent release on bond, Kusimo asked "That this Court set aside, vacate and revoke bond heretofore set in the above styled matters; and issue a capias for the arrest of the Defendant."

As of presstime, the motion was still pending Fouty's ruling. Likewise, a pre-trial hearing has yet to be scheduled on the Putnam County domestic battery charges.

Putnam Magistrate Court, Case Nos. 03-M-2444, 2445
Kanawha Magistrate Court, Case Nos. 08-M-296-298 and 08-M-2580, 2581