I (David Holland) had an altercation with 3 teenagers on March 13, 2018, I threatened them with a baseball bat after they had taunted and thrown something at my vehicle. I never physically touched anyone and was not contacted or questioned about this incident until 4.5 months later when I received a call from a Detective Iverson out of the blue questioning me about the incident in which she said the teenagers were accusing me of headbutting and spitting on one of them which I did not recall at the time because the physical headbutt and spitting was fabricated, I never physically touched anyone. I answered all the detectives questions and when she heard my (then 15 month old) boy crying she said she was letting me go and asked for my physical address, when I asked "what she was sending me" she stated "nothing, I need a physical address for the investigation", I complied and 1 month later I received an indictment in the mail, I was indicted on Felony aggravated assault without an opportunity to recount my side of the story. I had to fly back to Utah 4 separate times while living in California to attend court trying to deal with this case as it had already cost me a huge job opportunity in San Diego even though it was still a pending case at the time. The case should have been dropped on 2 different occasions but was allowed to continue due to inepxperience(Judge Gibson's first time on the stand) allowing Prosectuor Brian J Williams to advise her to allow him more time to get in contact with his teenage accusers in which he did not in the agreed upon time frame after they no-showed in January 2019.
In March of 2019 I was ready to take this case to trial to fight for my innocence but my lawyer persuaded me that due to 2/3 kids statements against mine and his opinion that my evidence would be thrown out. I took his advise and hesitantly took a plea deal reducing the charges from from a felony to a Class B misdemeanor assault, but I never assaulted anyone and this will be on my record for a total of three years befor I can expunge it and has already prevented me from job opportunities until March 2022.
This incident and it's negative affect on my record has prevented me from gaining a decent paying job, has forced me to leverage my credit cards forcing me into a mountain of debt and a significant decline in my credit, this has also put a huge strain on my relationship with my fiance (now ex fiance) forcing us to separate and now I only get to see my son every other week. Please urge the 3rd district court of West Jordan and the Utah Supreme Court to review this case which was under investigated.
