Kenneth Sailley
LAKE HAVASU CITY – His attorney promises an appeal will be filed in the case of a Lake Havasu City man convicted of an attack upon the mother of their five-year-old daughter 19 months ago. Legal Defender Mike Shinn told Judge Doug Camacho Friday that his client, Kenneth Sailley, 29, was wrongly convicted by the Court.
“Mr. Sailley is innocent. We do plan to file an appeal. Nothing much more than that,” Shinn offered at the start of the sentencing hearing at the Law and Justice Center in Kingman.
Attorneys opted for a bench trial rather than a jury trial, so it was Camacho himself who found Sailley guilty of two aggravated assault charges, kidnapping and a misdemeanor assault count on Aug. 23.
Prosecutor Jeff Haws said authorities have monitored Sailley’s telephone communications from jail and learned that he has accused Haws, Shinn and Camacho of conspiring to bring about a negative outcome for the defendant.
“That’s all absurd,” Haws said, crediting Shinn with working diligently and professionally on behalf of Sailley. “We have never been in cahoots … Never has there been any agreement to attempt to get the defendant.”
Sailley threw his lawyer under the bus, complaining to Camacho that Shinn poorly performed in the legal communication and representation arenas.
Haws called Sailley a dangerous individual who can be sparked to anger by any simple thing going wrong in his world. Haws defended Shinn, contending his adversarial courtroom counterpart did his best to manage a client who displayed anger management issues throughout legal proceedings over the last 18 months.
“He lost control over and over again as this case has been pending,” Haws said of Sailley. “He has a severe anger problem.’’
“I’d be angry too,” said Shinn, who added Sailley maintains his innocence against fabricated allegations. “His life is over. He’s going to prison for something he didn’t do.”
Sailley’s victim, Sarah Roman, explained how her life is forever changed by abuse and violence she endured while handing off her daughter for a child visitation exchange in Feb. 2023. Her trial testimony was that Sailley nearly choked her out with hands squeezing around her throat and that she and her daughter were tossed over a couch during the struggle inside the home they once shared together.
“He has stripped me of my security and safety,” Roman said Friday, explaining she wakes up every morning fearing that Sailley remains a threat to her well-being. “I shake in fear when I see someone who looks like him.”
During his testimony, Sailley denied allegations that he grabbed and choked Roman, bloodied her nose and threatened her at knife point while telling her it was over, and she was never leaving.
Judge Camacho denied Shinn’s motion for new trial that alleged evidence was insufficient for conviction. Camacho methodically worked his way through the punishment phase, running three prison sentences concurrently.
Ultimately, he imposed a 15-year prison term for Sailley.
“Love you,” Sailley said as he smiled at supporters when escorted from Court.
“You’re a good man,” one responded.
Dave Hawkins
