Jul 17, 2007 11:37 pm US/Central
Cop Given 5 Years For Defending Himself, He Says
by Mike Parker
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Officer Mike Mette, here in uniform, says he was only defending himself when he punched a college student in Iowa in 2005.
Officer Mike Mette is currently suspended without pay, and it appears he will soon be fired by Chicago police top brass. But losing his job is the least of his worries. He's about to do prison time for something he says was anything but a crime.
"Every step of the way, it's been… I can't believe this is happening," Mette said.
Mette has been a Chicago police officer for almost four years. Now he is a convicted felon who's been ordered to report on November 7 for a five-year Iowa prison sentence.
It goes back to 2005 when a drunken college student began harassing Mette, his brother and four other men outside a party in Dubuque Iowa.
"He hit me three times in the chest with two closed fists," Mette said. "After the third time, I pushed him away from me. I told him to leave. He came back at me a fourth time, and that's when I punched Mr. Gothard."
Mette claimed self defense during his non-jury trial, but the judge declared that the 30-year-old police officer was guilty of assault with serious bodily harm, even though she conceded that "the defendant was not the initial aggressor."
Judge Monica Ackley said nevertheless, Mette should have walked away from the man rather than striking that one blow.
"I've never been attacked before and not been afforded the right to defend myself," Mette said.
Two days ago, Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass called it, "An Iowa criminal case that smells of a thousand hogs."
"I know I've got to do the time," Mette said. "My biggest consoling factor is that even if I do end up going to prison, I still know that I didn't do anything wrong that night."
Mette's attorney told CBS 2 Tuesday night that he will appeal. He will argue that the judge did not apply the law correctly in the case. But he's concerned that even if the conviction is overturned, it won't happen quickly enough to keep Mette from doing prison time.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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