Man Who Struck Wife in the Mouth With Hammer Takes Plea Deal

SAN ANGELO, TX -- On Tuesday morning, Jose Ramiro Rodriguez, 55, appeared in the Tom Green County courthouse for his plea to the charge of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, a Second Degree Felony. 

On March 11, 2017 Rodriguez, '' intentionally and knowingly caused bodily injury to [his wife] by striking her in the mouth with a regular seized hammer," his indictment reads.

The wife's front tooth and bottom lip were injured as a result of the assault. Rodriguez was subsequently arrested that same day and was released on a $50,000 bond. 

Judge Ben Woodward presided over the plea hearing and ensured Rodriguez knew the assault charge would also include an element of family violence, meaning any form of assaults he's charged with after the hearing could be treated as a Third Degree Felony instead of a Class A Misdemeanor. 

"How do you plea to this charge," Woodward asked Rodriguez. 

"Gulity," he replied, also giving acknowledgment that he attacked his wife in the assault.

For Rodriguez plea of guilty, the State recommend he be issued eight years probation and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000. Before the Judge Woodward accepted the State's recommendation, Rodriguez attorney Gerald Ratliff asked to amend one of the conditions of the probation. 

He called Rodriguez's wife to the bench so she could testify before the court, and acknowledge she wanted to continue her relationship with the defendant.

"I'm not scared of him," she stated, " I want to move on because I love him." 

She added that in the six years they had been together he had never assaulted her before the assault in March.

Following her testimony, Judge Woodward decided to approve the amended condition. However, he declared to Rodriguez that if any assaults or attempted assaults were to happen he would immediately reverse the decision.  

"Make sure you treat [your wife] with the highest respect," Woodward told Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was seen wiping tears away from his eyes after hearing his wife's testimony. Woodward then issued the eight-year probation effective immediately.

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