LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A jury has found Hall of Fame jockey Robby Albarado guilty of wanton assault. It is also called 4th degree assault and is a misdemeanor.
The Jefferson District Court jury reached its verdict around 4:30 p.m. Thursday after deliberating a little over four hours. Albarado's sentencing hearing will take place August 18. The judge cannot impose a stronger sentence than a $500 fine the jury recommended.
Attorneys spent most of the morning presenting their closing arguments.
The alleged victim told jurors she got into an argument at Albarado's home in Louisville in late April after she discovered he was cheating.
She says Albarado attacked her after she went through his cell phone and listened to a voicemail from another woman.
The prosecution called several witnesses, including a detective, and doctors who testified about the woman's injuries.
Albarado did not take the stand in his own defense, and his attorney called only one witness: a friend of Albarado who testified about the couple's relationship.
In closing arguments Thursday, the defense team reiterated that the plaintiff barged into Albarado's home without being invited.
"On this occasion, there's no text, there's no phone call, there's no knock, there's no door bell," said defense attorney David Lambertus. "In she comes. And he's in bed. He's alone in the place, he's alone in bed."
Albarado was arrested on assault charges on the morning of the Kentucky Oaks and was subsequently suspended from riding at any licensed horse racing track in the state. He missed mounts on Oaks and Derby Day as a result.
After his arrest, he was suspended from racing by a committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, but that action later was blocked by a judge, allowing him to continue riding.
In 2011, Albarado faced similar charges after a domestic dispute with his ex-wife. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of attempting to interfere with a witness and is on unsupervised probation, which could be revoked after the guilty verdict in the current case. The judge will consider that issue on Wednesday of next week, July 18th.
Earlier, two alternate jurors in the case told WDRB they would have found Albarado not guilty.
The alternate jurors, both of them women, said they would have voted to acquit Albarado.
One, Jackie White, said she felt the ex-girlfriend was overdramatic and vindictive.
"I base this, probably 99 percent on what she said in her own testimony," White said. I think she gave an honest and truthful description of what happened, and it made it very easy for me. She never really said he did anything but put her in a bear hug and try to get his cell phone back. That's pretty much all I heard."
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Jockey Robby Albarado listens to closing arguments in his assault trial in Jefferson District Court in Louisville Thursday.
