By Mark Morey
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. — Jurors Tuesday afternoon quickly convicted a Yakima man whose fight with a county jail guard was caught on security video.
Julian Juarez, 22, is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in Yakima County Superior Court.
The trial started earlier this month and was continued to avoid the holiday break. Closing arguments before Judge Doug Federspiel were held Tuesday afternoon.
Jurors deliberated for about 20 minutes before returning their verdict.
According to the video captured during the March incident, Juarez began resisting instructions from Corrections Officer Garrett Goettsch while standing outside his cell and then fought with him.
Goettsch fired a stun gun at Juarez, who collapsed to the floor. The video shows Goettsch then kicked him, and when three other officers arrived to restrain Juarez, one of them punched him in the lower back.
Scott Himes, chief of security operations for the jail, said at the time that the officers acted to stop Juarez from continuing to fight.
Juarez argued at trial that he was defending himself. He testified that he believed Goettsch was going to take him somewhere and assault him because Juarez had sworn at him earlier in the day.
Goettsch testified that he was trying only to move Juarez temporarily to another cell. He told jurors that Juarez appeared to become agitated when told he was being moved.
Juarez was in custody on charges that he violated a protective order and assaulted his ex-girlfriend.
He was sentenced in July to six years in that case, including 12 additional months for an aggravating circumstance. Prosecutors alleged that he assaulted the woman in front of their children.
Juarez has appealed that jury verdict.