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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A Blair County jury on Thursday convicted an Altoona man of strangulation and simple assault charges that developed from a domestic dispute.
Jean Dolce, 52, who remains free on bail pending sentence, tried to convince the jury that he acted in self-defense during a Feb. 26, 2023, dispute with an estranged girlfriend.
But it was the girlfriend who ended up with red scratches on her neck, as shown in a photo displayed during the trial.
And it was the girlfriend who told a 911 dispatcher that Dolce was using a kitchen knife to stab a staircase banister and that she had a baseball bat and the right to defend herself.
Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Mays told the jury in his closing argument that this case was about control.
Mays asked the jury to reject Dolce's claims of self-defense and believe the woman who said Dolce pulled her hair and grabbed her by the neck, making it hard for her to breath, before she got to a phone and began talking to a 911 dispatcher.
The trial included body camera video showing Altoona police officers with guns drawn as they approached the woman's upstairs apartment, where a combative Dolce can be heard yelling: "I ain't coming out with hands up." After an exchange of abrasive statements and foul language, police took Dolce into custody and charged him.
Chief Public Defender Russ Mongtomery asked the jury to question the woman's version of what happened. Montgomery reminded the jury that the woman was the one with a baseball bat and had told the 911 operator that she used it to "beat the s-- out of Dolce."
Mays disagreed and said the woman told the 911 dispatcher that if Dolce came at her with the knife, then she would use the baseball bat to "beat the s-- out of him."
The jury was left to make its own decision, based on the quality of the recording played in court.
Mays also asked the jury to reject the man's claim of self-defense by pointing out that nothing stopped Dolce from leaving the woman's residence.
While Dolce could be heard on the 911 audio recording asking the woman to give him his phone back, Mays said that wouldn't justify strangulation.
The jury took about 90 minutes to render guilty verdicts on the second-degree felony count of strangulation and two misdemeanor counts of simple assault. Their decisions were made about a half hour after the jury listened to Judge Jackie Bernard again read the legal definition of strangulation. The jury also asked if it could have the photo, shown during trial, of the woman's neck injuries, but that was turned down.
Outside the courthouse, one of the jurors said those requests were made to help a couple of the jurors who were on the fence.
Bernard, who set Dolce's sentencing for June 25, asked attorneys to submit sentencing recommendations. She also told Dolce he could remain free pending sentence, in light of his regular compliance with bail conditions and as long as he regularly checks in with the county probation office.
The judge also told Dolce to avoid all contact with the former girlfriend.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay
Stephens is at 814-946-7456.