Grisly Beating Case Yields First Conviction Under New U.S. Law

CHARLESTON, W. Va. â€”  A man who beat his wife bloody and then drove around for several days with her locked unconscious inside a car trunk became on Tuesday the first person convicted under the new federal domestic-violence law.

Christopher Bailey, 34, could get up to 20 years in prison under the new law and life behind bars for kidnaping when he is sentenced Aug. 21.

He beat his wife, Sonya, on Nov. 26, placed her unconscious in the trunk of their compact car and drove around West Virginia and Kentucky until Dec. 1, when he carried her into a Corbin, Ky., emergency room, prosecutors said.

Sonya Bailey, 33, remains in a coma.

The Violence Against Women Act, part of the 1994 anti-crime legislation, makes crossing a state line to assault a spouse or domestic partner a federal offense. Bailey was the first person prosecuted under the law, which was passed in August.

Advocates for victims of domestic abuse said prosecuting offenders under state laws is often difficult when the evidence does not clearly show which events occurred in which legal jurisdiction.

Had Bailey been prosecuted under West Virginia state laws, he would have faced a malicious wounding charge that carries up to 10 years in prison, state police Sgt. J.J. Dean said.

During the trial, Bailey’s lawyers argued that he was in an alcoholic blackout and never intended to harm his wife.

Bailey, a handyman at a nursing home, testified that he could only remember arguing with his wife in a bar in their hometown of St. Albans and waking up behind the wheel of the car two days later in a place he didn’t recognize to find her severely injured in the back seat.

He said he drove around a few days before taking her to a hospital, because “I thought I could get her better by myself.� He said he went to a Kmart and bought bandages, hydrogen peroxide and antibiotic ointment for her wounds.

Investigators found a pool of blood and urine in the wheel well of the trunk. The lid of the trunk was dented from the inside and scratch marks were found around the lock.

Prosecutors said Sonya Bailey may have regained consciousness at some point and tried to escape.