A 56-year-old Boerne resident, Robert Martin Schmidt, may have caught a break of sorts last week as he was facing 25 years to life in prison after he tried to strangle a woman.
After Schmidt pleaded guilty, he received time served for the Class A misdemeanor assault charge. However, a local prosecutor said he now will appear before a parole board for his early release granted on a first-degree felony conviction.
Schmidt originally was charged with assault by strangulation of a romantic partner, which is typically a third-degree felony. However, court records show Schmidt had prior felony convictions, including two assault charges, meaning Kendall County Assistant District Attorney Nick Socias was seeking an enhanced charge of 25 years to life in prison. Schmidt was set to face trial last week, but he accepted a plea agreement after a jury had been selected.
While Socias said it’s unusual for a defendant to see such a drastic reduction in a sentence, going from a first-degree felony punishment to a Class A misdemeanor punishment of 82 days in county jail, the assistant DA said he was facing a reluctant witness and noted Schmidt now will have to go back before his parole board to determine his fate.
“In this case, he (Schmidt) was a habitual violent felon facing 25 (years) to life,” Socias said. “I believed beyond a reasonable doubt that the offense occurred and would not dismiss the case. Since he is still on parole, this conviction, although a reduction, goes to the parole board to decide what to do with his remaining years on his sentence.”
Schmidt still had 10 years left on his 25-year sentence for a first-degree felony when a parole board released him, leaving him potentially able still to serve the remaining years. However, the decision will be left to the board to decide.
In 2006, Schmidt was convicted of assaulting a police officer after he approached the officer, who was responding to an assault call from Schmidt’s parents’ home, with a knife and a flashlight, according to court records from Schmidt’s failed appeal attempt. He was also convicted in 2000 for the same charge, but the details on the incident could not be obtained by The Star’s press deadline.
Although the charges were high and Socias opted to move forward with prosecution, he said he was facing a victim who did not want to see Schmidt have his day in court.
“Unfortunately, recantation of abuse allegations by the victim is common,” Socias said. “It’s a documented stage of both the cycle of abuse in domestic violence relationships and a stage of disclosure in child outcries of sexual abuse. There are many issues that lead to recantation by a victim of family violence.
“We make available all the resources to help the victim move forward, but it does not always happen. In a case of a victim recanting or refusing to cooperate, I have to analyze the case and see if I can still prove it with (them) working against me. If I believe the person was assaulted and I can still prove it at trial, I will go forward. Most of the time, a recantation means I have to adjust the plea bargain away from what I felt was originally appropriate to something less.”
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