Assault charges dropped for local attorney

The judge says Dan Morgan used reasonable force to protect his dog.

A judge granted a local attorney immunity from prosecution on aggravated assault and misdemeanor charges, the judge saying he used reasonable force to restrain his wife from harming his dog.

On March 29, they had been in an argument, both Daniel and Tabitha Morgan testified, and she’d asked him to leave. The argument that night was one of a series of recent arguments.

That particular night they had been arguing and she grabbed his small dog and went to throw the dog outside. Daniel Morgan testified he feared the dog would be injured or killed as a result of the action.

“The use of force in this situation was justified,” said Robert Rutledge, who represented Dan Morgan, during the hearing. “It was a reasonable amount of force to get the dog away from his wife.”

Rutledge argued Dan Morgan should not be prosecuted because he was acting in the defense of his property — in this case a small dog.

Judge Shepherd Howell, a senior judge from Cartersville, was assigned to the case after all four Floyd County Superior Court judges recused themselves from the case.

Much of the testimony agreed on the general incident with varying points of view on the details, Howell said to the court.

Testimony showed both parties were arguing, tempers were raised, Tabitha Morgan threatened to do harm to the dog — which she knew was valued by Daniel Morgan — and he grabbed her to stop her from harming the dog.

He grabbed her and that did not stop her actions, the judge said, then squeezed her tighter and she dropped the dog and he immediately turned her loose.

Testimony from both Daniel Morgan and Tabitha Morgan, the judge said, agreed on those points.

“I would find under the circumstances his actions were not unreasonable,” Howell told the court. “I’m not saying he did the right thing. I’m not saying that is what I would do in the situation.”

He continued saying the facts of the case clearly dispel any intent to do harm to his wife and said he didn’t feel the state could prove that Daniel Morgan intended to harm his wife.

“It puzzles me how this got turned into an aggravated assault case from a simple battery arrest,” Howell said.

Prosecutors argued the amount of force used in the incident was not reasonable.

“Mr. Morgan was not justified in the act of placing his pregnant wife in a choke hold,” Paulding County Assistant District Attorney Emily Harsen said. Floyd County District Attorney Leigh Patterson recused herself from this case.

Tabitha Morgan testified Daniel Morgan put her in a “choke hold” and that her vision started to go out, and that’s when she dropped the dog. Once released, she called police.

A photo taken by police, when they responded to the incident, showed a red mark on her neck and face.

Police recordings from the incident were played in the hearing. At one point the responding officers discussed whether or not to make an arrest.

They also discussed that, by law, they had to arrest the “primary aggressor” when called to a domestic violence incident, and felt that Daniel Morgan was the aggressor.

The couple has filed for divorce in Floyd County Superior Court.