Jul 13, 2007 11:29 pm US/Central
Rep. Found Guilty On One Count Of Domestic Assault
by Pat Kessler
Elk River, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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When Olson testified he said he is the real victim, not his wife. (File)
Courtesy Sherburne County Sheriff's Dept.
State Rep. Mark Olson, after a trial that pitted his word against his wife's, was convicted Friday of one count of misdemeanor domestic assault with the intent to cause fear and acquitted on a second misdemeanor assault charge.
The jury of five men and one woman, which deliberated for about three hours, convicted Olson of domestic assault by intending to cause fear of bodily harm or death. He was acquitted of intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict bodily harm. Sentencing was set for Aug. 8.
Prosecutors alleged that Olson, an eight-term Republican from Big Lake, pushed his wife, Heidi Olson, down three times behind their home on Nov. 12.
Mark Olson said afterward that he was pleased about being acquitted of the more serious misdemeanor. As to his conviction for causing his wife fear, he said, "I don't believe I had any intent to cause fear, but anger can cause fear and I did get angry."
He said he would work to reconcile with his wife. "I love my wife," he said outside the courthouse.
Olson, 52, claimed during the trial that he was a battered spouse and that the Nov. 12 incident came after frequent arguments with his wife over raising her five children. He said that in the past, she hit him several times, stabbed his favorite dresser and cut his picture off their wedding album cover with what he thought was a knife.
Heidi Olson, 50, also claimed she had been abused by her husband and feared for her life.
She issued a statement Friday, read by her brother-in-law Scott Rebney, that said, "I would like to say publicly that I forgive Mark for what he has done to my family and me. He does need to be held accountable for his actions, though.
"The false allegations that he has made against me are devastating to us, but we are choosing not to live in bitterness toward him. I hope that Mark gets the help he needs for his personal problems."
During closing arguments, prosecutor Gretchen Ziehl told jurors that Olson intended to scare and harm his wife when he put his hands on her and she ended up on her backside.
Ziehl rejected his theory that he was acting in self-defense.
Mark Olson's attorney, Jill Clark, during her closing arguments, asked jurors to find that her client didn't intend to hurt or frighten his wife when the two argued and eventually became physical.
Olson, serving his eighth term in the House, was suspended from the Republican caucus after his arrest last fall. While there have been no attempts to remove him from the Legislature, House Republican leaders have suggested that he resign if convicted.
House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a Democrat, said in a prepared statement Friday that the House can punish a member who "brings the House into dishonor or disrepute," if at least two representatives submit a complaint to her.
An ethics panel could recommend disciplinary action for a vote by the full House.
Olson said Friday he had no intention of resigning, "even if they (fellow legislators) asked me."
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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