LYNNÂ —Â A judge ordered a city man held without bail after his wife told police the man strangled her and slammed her against a wall after she had asked to use his iPad.Â
But a defense attorney said the woman never mentioned she had been strangled until days after police responded to the home.
He recommended that if it was “a close call” on whether to set bail or order the defendant held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing as requested by the prosecution, that the judge choose the former.
“I don’t think it’s a close call at all,” Lynn District Court Judge Stacey Fortes said in reply. She cited a law allowing judges to hold a defendant without bail until a dangerousness hearing if a judge finds probable cause that the defendant poses a danger.
William Ulmer, 35, of 90 Fernwood Ave., was arrested and charged with assault and battery; and assault and battery on a person over 60 or disabled; on Saturday.
A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf at his arraignment in Lynn District Court on Monday.
Police responded to the Fernwood Avenue home Saturday on a report of a caller who said he had been “assaulted by the whole family,” according to a report by Lynn Police Officer John McKenna.
Officers reported arriving at the home and meeting a woman who said she had been assaulted. Officers said the woman had a small scratch on her elbow that was bleeding and redness around her neck.
Police said a man then came out from another room and told officers that he had called them.
The man (later identified as Ulmer) told police he wanted a divorce and he “felt like he (was) being held captive in his own house” because his in-laws had been staying at the house for the past week against the man’s wishes, according to police.
“He said that (the female alleged victim) came to his room and demanded to use his iPad and when he refused she pushed him,” McKenna said in his report. “Next thing he knew, (the alleged victim’s father) then began to assault him by grabbing at his leg, trying to pull him out of the room.”
Officers reported Ulmer had a small scratch on his chin and declined medical attention.
The alleged victim told police she went to the room where Ulmer had been staying since announcing he wanted a divorce and she asked to use the iPad. The alleged victim told police Ulmer refused, but she went in the room to get it anyway, according to police. She told police Ulmer grabbed her and started pushing her out of the room and they began yelling, police reported.
The woman’s father told police Ulmer assaulted him when he tried to pry Ulmer’s arm away from the alleged victim’s neck.
The alleged victim wrote in an affidavit and testified during a hearing for a restraining order that Ulmer had slammed her against a wall and strangled her during the fight. Assistant District Attorney Erin Bellavia requested Ulmer be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.
But Attorney Steven Goldwyn requested his client, who had no record, be released. He noted the police report includes no mention of the alleged strangling but does note the female alleged victim told police Ulmer had never been violent before.
“When she talked to police, she said nothing about him slamming her into the wall or (strangling her),” Goldwyn said. “Now we’re looking at an affidavit that was written days later.”
Fortes granted a restraining order for the alleged female victim against Ulmer and ruled there was probable cause to hold a dangerousness hearing. She scheduled Ulmer and the alleged victims to return to court for the hearing Wednesday.
Ulmer’s family declined to comment outside the courtroom.