KINGMAN – The self-defense argument offered for the Bullhead City man who beat up a security guard outside the Mohave County Kingman District library did not pan out. A Superior Court jury deliberated 45 minutes Wednesday before finding Paris Nealy, 37, guilty of 2 counts of aggravated assault at the end of his two day trial at the Law and Justice Center.
Surveillance video evidence figured prominently in the case.
One clip played by deputy county attorney Jacob Cote showed Nealy blowing smoke inside the library after inhaling from a vaping device last April 22. Other clips showed security guard Cory Gould informing Nealy he could not smoke in the building and the same guard subsequently directing the defendant’s exit.
More video shows Gould confronting Nealy outside the library when he was walking by about 2.5 hours after he had been trespassed from the property. His lawyer Jon Gillenwater suggested Gould could simply have allowed Nealy to walk by without engaging him and that Nealy feared for his safety when he exercised his right of self defense and began punching Gould.
A left-handed roundhouse punch by the diminutive defendant dropped Gould to the pavement. The unarmed guard struggled to his feet only to be knocked down again by another punch before Nealy pummeled him with left and right-handed blows to the back of the head.
Library patrons came to Gould’s aid as the wobbly guard rose to his feet once more as Nealy walks away from the assault.
Judge Lee Jantzen has scheduled a March 31 sentencing hearing. Cote said Nealy faces 5- to 7.5-years in prison.
Dave Hawkins
