1996 Brewers Draft Pick and Farmhand Sentenced to 60 Years

[Mass Haas]

This pre-dates us here at Brewerfan (established 2001), but --

 

West Man Sentenced In Waco Court

 

Jay Warren Arnold, 39, of West was convicted Thursday, March 17, in the 2012 strangulation assault of his wife and sentenced to 60 years in prison.

 

Jurors in Waco’s 54th State District Court deliberated nearly 30 minutes before handing down a conviction for aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping.

 

Arnold, a former minor league baseball pitcher drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, faced up to life in prison on each of the two counts.

 

The jury sentenced him to 60 years in prison for each count, to be served concurrently, plus a $10,000 fine on each count.

 

During a week of emotional testimony, his estranged wife and the mother of their three children testified that Arnold assaulted her and dragged her in a headlock to the garage, where he wrapped insulated copper wiring around an exposed wooden stud and then looped it tightly around her neck.

 

She reportedly told jurors that she thought he was going to kill her.

 

“He put it around my neck and twisted it and then went around my neck again and twisted it like a bread tie, around and around,” the victim said.

 

During the sentencing phase, prosecutors called the crime horrendous and said that the suspect’s estranged wife and children would never be safe if Arnold is allowed to be released on probation.

 

Prosecutors Gabrielle Massey and Robert Moody told the jury about how the fear would not end for the victim unless the suspect was sentenced to life in prison.

 

Defense attorney Michelle Tuegel told jurors to think of Arnold as a human who was seeking mercy.

 

“Look at him not just as a monster that the state is calling him, but as a human being that can still love,” Tuegel said. “He is a broken man…A prison sentence is a death sentence.”

 

Arnold testified that he could not remember the night of the attack, but said that he would never do something like what he was accused of. He did not testify for the sentencing phase.

 

***

 

Arnold, a RHP drafted in the 20th round in 1996 at age 19 out of a California community college, appeared at Helena (one game) and Ogden (six games) that year.

 

He did not play for the organization after that season (if he was released, these days, that would be pretty rare for a 20th round pick that young after only seven appearances). Maybe he wasn't exactly a quality individual back then, either. Looks like he made a brief comeback attempt three years later in indy ball (Baseball Reference page).