Jury finds Caldwell guilty of battery in Dozier officer

By Kate McCardell

Published: November 7, 2007

A Jackson County jury found Justin Caldwell guilty of battery on a facility employee at the conclusion of his one-day trial on Wednesday.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 27 at 1:30 p.m.

Caldwell, 18, was accused of battery on James E. Wooden, an officer at Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys last February, where, at the time, Caldwell was a juvenile resident.

The verdict came roughly 30 minutes after the jury posed a question to the court.

The panel wanted to know the difference between battery on a facility employee and the lesser charge of battery.

Caldwell faces up to five years behind bars on the offense. The lesser charge of battery would have been a misdemeanor.

On the witness stand, Wooden said Caldwell had pushed him with his elbow as he passed the guard in the facility’s dining hall.

Wooden said Caldwell walked on and entered the food line, where Wooden approached him to “counsel” Caldwell, who appeared to be upset over something.

Wooden said that was when Caldwell “cussed” him and head-butted him, knocking off his Department of Juvenile Justice hat.

Wooden said that, after the alleged head-butt, he attempted to implement a “straight-arm take down,” but his feet and Caldwell’s became entangled and both fell to the ground.

Wooden claimed that after he stood up, Caldwell, still on the ground, kicked him twice.

Caldwell’s defense attorney Rick Reno disputed Wooden’s claims and, in his cross-examination of the witness, used a demonstration in which he and Wooden lightly acted out the incident.

Wooden, at 5’11, stood several inches taller than Reno, 5’6, who, as observed by Judge William Wright, was very close to the same height as Caldwell.

Reno said that Caldwell was too short to reach Wooden’s forehead or hat, claiming that Wooden’s accusation was highly questionable.

Reno also laid down on the floor of the courtroom in the position Wooden alleged Caldwell was in when he kicked Wooden.

The defense attorney, still on the ground, said it was impossible for his feet to reach Wooden where he stood.

Witnesses for the defense, which included three Dozier residents, claimed Wooden acted unfairly. They also claimed that Wooden slapped Caldwell in the forehead during the incident.

State prosecutor Jonna Bowman argued that the contusion observed on Caldwell’s forehead by a Dozier nurse after the incident was not caused by Wooden’s hand, rather it was made when Caldwell head-butted the officer.

In closing statements, Bowman asked the jury why Wooden would risk his seven-year career with the Department of Juvenile Justice by acting out toward Caldwell.

Similarly, in Reno’s closing, he asked the jury why Caldwell would act out in the manner for which he was accused when he was only five months away from his release after living in juvenile detention facilities for almost five years.

What happened later that day after the incident involving Wooden may be more widely known in the Panhandle.

Caldwell was escorted to the Intensive Supervision Program, a one-room cottage used to hold juveniles until they regain self-control.

In ISP, Caldwell was involved in an altercation with Dozier guard Alvin Speights.

Speights was accused of battering Caldwell and the incident in question was caught on surveillance footage.

A Jackson County grand jury exonerated Speights last September, saying “Speights was justified in the use of force required to insure the protection and safety of himself and others and that no criminal charges are warranted against” him.

This conclusion, according to the grand jury presentment, was made after reviewing testimony, photographic images and video footage.

Caldwell’s father, Mark Caldwell, said he plans to continue “to pursue justice,” claiming the grand jury was not presented with all of the footage available.

He claimed Wooden’s accusations against his son were just an effort to cover up the incident that occurred in ISP later that day.