Assault charge dropped; absence of victim cited

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Norm Hayward and his wife, Claudia, have a couple of things going for them as they continue their increasingly expensive motor home trip around parts of the United States. For starters, the Phoenix, Ariz., couple are saving on hotel costs.

Crime & Courts

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January 10, 2013

Assault charge dropped; absence of victim cited

news@joplinglobe.com The Joplin Globe Thu Jan 10, 2013, 11:31 PM CST

The Jasper County prosecutor’s office has dropped a felony count of domestic assault that a Joplin man was facing because of an inability to locate the alleged victim for testimony in court.

Donald L. Still, 64, was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday in Jasper County Circuit Court on a charge of second-degree domestic assault. But Associate Judge Richard Copeland dismissed the charge at the request of the prosecutor’s office.

Still was accused of punching his stepson repeatedly and choking him during a fight May 22 of last year at his home on West Zora Street.

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