Deerfield man claims self defense in officer assault

<img src="http://www.unionleader.com/storyimage/UL/20130530/NEWS03/130539977/AR/0/... align="right">BRENTWOOD — A Deerfield man charged with assaulting a police officer who responded to a 911 call was recently freed on bail and given a new trial date.

Stanley West, 40, will go on trial the week of Aug. 5 on three counts of simple assault on a police officer and a single count of resisting arrest.

West was expected to go on trial last Monday in Rockingham County Superior Court, but his case was rescheduled.

He is expected to claim during his trial that he was legally justified in protecting his home under the state’s “use of force” law, according to court papers.

Deerfield police responded to West’s home shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 19 in response to a 911 call that somebody hung up.

West says he was asleep in bed with his wife when a man he did not know — claiming to be a police officer — arrived at his doorstep, according to defense attorney Richard Samdperil.

“Mr. West was awakened by his wife, who told him that she saw a person walking around their home with a flashlight,” Samdperil said in court papers. “Mr. West denies calling 911, and, to his knowledge, (his wife) did not call 911 either.”

West’s wife, Mary Jane Schultz, was charged with recklessly discharging a firearm during the confrontation, according to court documents.

Prosecutors say that police Officer Roger St. Onge knocked on the front door of West’s home at 97 Old Center Road, but nobody responded.

St. Onge announced himself as a police officer as he knocked again, bringing West to the front door, police said.

West told the officer that no one at the home called 911, but St. Onge started to open the screen door and asked if he could enter, according to court records. (<strong><font color="pink">Note: what did Penny say about a screen door that locks???!!!</font></strong>)

That’s when prosecutors say West tackled the officer, sending the two down the front steps. West landed on top of St. Onge and punched him repeatedly in the face, indictments say.

West allegedly held St. Onge’s head to the ground with one or both of his hands pushing against the officer’s face.

He was freed in April on $5,000 cash bail after Samdperil petitioned a judge for lower bail. West faces up to two to five years in state prison on each of the charges if he is convicted by a jury.

Thanks http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130530/NEWS03/130539977/0/FRONTPAGE