Judge acquits Mississippi lawmaker accused of punching wife

Published 7:09 pm Tuesday, August 20, 2019

(AP) — A judge has acquitted a Mississippi lawmaker on a domestic violence charge after he was accused of punching his wife because she didn’t undress quickly enough when he wanted to have sex.

State Rep. Doug McLeod was tried Tuesday on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. George County Justice Court Judge Mike Bullock found McLeod not guilty after his wife testified on his behalf.

The Sun Herald reports Michele McLeod testified that her husband drank less than two tumblers full of wine, mixing them with prescription-strength painkiller on May 18. Michele McLeod says Doug McLeod was “in a state of delirium” when one of his limbs, “probably his arm,” hit her face.

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That testimony contrasts with police video where Michele McLeod described her husband as an angry drunk who “lost it.”