| A Knox County judge has found a Galesburg man not guilty of attempted murder charges, but convicted him on other counts for an attack over a year ago that left a woman severely injured. Knox County Circuit Court Judge Scott Shipplett acquitted 31-year old Cody Thomas after a two-day bench trial Friday on an Attempted Murder charge, but convicted him of a count of Aggravated Battery, and two counts of Attempted Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault. Thomas was arrested around Thanksgiving of 2011, after authorities went to a home in the five-hundred block of Liberty Street around 2am November 25th of 2011, discovering a then-34-year old woman lying in the front yard near the home's porch. Authorities believe Thomas beat the woman about the face and head with a brick, sending her to a Peoria hospital with a coma. Shipplett ruled that not enough evidence existed to convict Thomas of attempted murder. A partial plea deal had originally been worked out several months ago allowing Thomas to plead guilty to a lesser charge, but another judge tossed out the deal and by law, recused himself from the case. The victim herself was among several-dozen witnesses believed to have been presented during the bench trial Thursday and yesterday. Thomas will be sentenced March 20th, following the completion of a pre-sentence investigation.  (Cody Thomas) |