Man Sentenced to Sobriety for Stabbing
May 17, 2006 No Comments5/17/06 Beach and Bay Press
A Jamacha man who stabbed someone after both of them had been drinking separately in Pacific Beach was sentenced May 11 to a work furlough program for 270 days and a ban on drinking alcohol for five years.
Andre Deon Hood, 25, was ordered to pay $6,448 in medical expenses to the victim, Mason Davis, 25, that were not covered by the victim’s health insurance. San Diego Superior Court Judge Fred Maguire gave Hood credit for one day previously spent in jail.
Hood’s attorney, Jan Ronis, said his client will be locked up at nights and weekends for 270 days in a work furlough facility and I would be able to keep working. Hood works for a subcontractor for the Port District and will surrender May 29 to the facility,where he will also have to pay nine months’ rent. He will be free on his own recognizance until then.
Hood agreed to accept probation conditions of five years that include a ban on alcohol and entering a bar or a nightclub where alcohol is sold. If Hood is found in violation of probation terms, he could be sent to prison for four years. He has no prior record.
“He is on a tight, tight leash. The court and the District Attorney’s Office are watching him,” said Deputy District Attorney Gordon Davis. The prosecutor is not related to the victim, who has the same last name.
Hood is deaf, and an American Sign Language interpreter translated what was said so Hood could understand.
Ronis and the prosecutor agreed the incident took place because everyone involved had been drinking. The assault took place after Davis, with his friends. and Hood, with his fiend, left The Tavern bar on Garnet Avenue following last call.
“Everyone was drunk. The victim had been in a fight earlier that evening,” said Ronis. No one could remember if any insults were uttered, but since Hood is deaf, he would not have heard them anyway. Prosecutor Davis said no knife was found and there was no motive for the alley stabbing.
On Nov. 18, 2005, someone knocked out Hood’s friend, Keith Green, in an alley fight, and Hood cut Davis’s throat around 1:55 a.m. near Beryl Street. The victim, who is from Beaverton, Ore., was also stabbed in the back and arm. Hood got a taxi to take Green to a hospital, and he was arrested.
The victim showed his 6-inch scar on his neck to the judge.
“People ask me what happened. I don’t know. I don’t know why I have a scar on my neck. I can’t explain it,” said Davis, who asked the judge to send Hood to prison. Hood pleaded guilty April 12 to assault with a deadly weapon. Charges of attempted murder, mayhem and battery with serious injury were dismlissed.
Ronis said “not a week goes by” in his office without someone seeking legal representation on charges following drinking in the Pacific Beach area due to the concentration of bars and liquor stores.
