A Tacoma man charged for pointing a gun at a driver on Interstate 5 between Winlock and Napavine in April has entered a guilty plea to two counts of third-degree assault and has been sentenced to 60 days in jail followed by six months in community custody.
He used what’s called an In Re Barr plea, which means the defendant enters a guilty plea to amended charges in order to receive the benefit of a plea deal. A Barr plea is different from an Alford plea in that with a Barr plea, the defendant does not necessarily assert innocence.
The defendant in this case, Anselmo R. Braffith IV, had initially been charged with two counts of second-degree assault for pointing a handgun at two people in a vehicle near mile marker 63 on Interstate 5.
“I understand that I am pleading guilty to two crimes that I did not commit, assault in the third degree. I understand that there are no facts to support these crimes,” said Braffith in a written guilty plea.
“I want to plead guilty to assault in the third degree times two to avoid going to trial and being convicted of what I did do, that being two counts of assault in the second degree because on April 11, 2021, I intentionally assaulted two individuals with a firearm,” he wrote.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely A. O’Rourke accepted Braffith’s plea and delivered his sentence during the same hearing on June 30. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail that afternoon to serve the remainder of his jail sentence.
O’Rourke additionally approved anti-harassment orders for the two victims and ordered that Braffith pay the victims restitution.
The restitution amount will be determined at a later hearing.
