CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / THOUSAND OAKS
A Ventura County jury Friday acquitted the chief of staff of a state assemblywoman on charges of assaulting protesters outside a political fundraiser last year.
Jose “Joel” Angeles, the top aide to Assemblywoman Audra Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), was found not guilty of misdemeanor criminal charges stemming from a scuffle in which a 69-year-old Episcopal priest alleged that he was body-slammed by Angeles.
Angeles testified during the trial that it was he who had been roughed up during the scuffle, and that he had not hit or shoved anyone.
The incident occurred when mostly Democratic protesters gathered outside a fundraiser for Strickland’s Republican husband, state Sen. Tony Strickland.
-- Patrick McGreevy
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