A Morgan Hill man facing a litany of charges ranging from
assault on a police officer to misdemeanor battery recently changed
his plea to one of no contest and will be sentenced in October.
A Morgan Hill man facing a litany of charges ranging from assault on a police officer to misdemeanor battery recently changed his plea to one of no contest and will be sentenced in October.
Joel Barnes, 40, pleaded no contest to two counts of felony resisting arrest, felony reckless driving and felony vandalism, according to Amy Cornell, a spokeswoman with the Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney. Barnes was also facing two counts of assault on a peace officer stemming from the same event, but prosecutors dismissed that charge.
“After further investigation and evaluation of the facts and evidence, we did not feel it was possible to prove these counts to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt,” Cornell said.
Barnes originally pleaded not guilty to these charges April 1, but changed his plea last week.
His charges stem from an event last summer when he evaded Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies three times as they attempted to arrest him on warrants for felony false imprisonment and assault, and ran from Morgan Hill police on one occasion, prosecutors said.
Barnes provoked deputies into shooting at him while he escaped their capture by driving his truck at them, police said. The chase ended two days later, when deputies cornered Barnes at a home in Watsonville. Barnes again ran from police but a SWAT team and canine officers found him hiding in nearby bushes.
He also pleaded no contest to the following series of unrelated charges in other cases that occurred in 2009: felony assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, and misdemeanors battery on his girlfriend, two counts of resisting arrest, contempt of court, violating a protective order and giving a false name to a peace officer, Cornell said.
Barnes’ plea was the result of a negotiated settlement with the DA’s office, she said. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and eight months.
Barnes will be sentenced 1:30 p.m. Oct. 1 in Department 30 of the Hall of Justice in San Jose.
