The Middletown Police arrested RS and charged him with felony domestic assault on his girlfriend, MK.  There were two witnesses to the incident, and both agreed with MK about how it happened.  Worse, MK had bruises on her wrists.  The police took pictures of everything on scene, including the bruises, and the case was charged as a felony because RS had a long history of domestic crimes.  This is exactly the kind of case that ends up pleading out... but when RS met with Kara Hoopis Manosh, he told her that he was innocent and he really didn't want to admit to something that he didn't do.  So, they started to build their case. Their strategy began even before MK took the witness stand... they needed a jury that would listen to RS, even though he had a history of this kind of conduct.  During cross-examination, Kara got MK to clarify exactly what she was accusing RS of doing- grabbing her and throwing her to the bed during an argument.  This was an important detail that was going to play into the closing argument strategy- it is so important to strategize the entire case and not just swing wildly! RS took the witness stand and testified to what really happened. He answered every question calmly and clearly, and told the jury that MK had attacked him and he had to grab her to stop the assault.  At closing arguments, Kara held up the photographs of MK's bruises and asked the jury whose side of the story made more sense:  MK said RS grabbed her and threw her, but the bruises were on her wrists. Who grabs somebody by the wrists to throw them?? Wasn't it more believable that RS had to grab her by the wrists to stop the attack?  The jury agreed, and returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY after about 20 minutes of deliberation.  RS was such a gentleman that he stopped and shook the prosecutor's hand on the way out of the courtroom.  A person's past does not always tell the whole story about who they are today.