Man sentenced in battery

A 58-year-old Gardnerville man with four prior arrests was sentenced Friday to six months in Douglas County Jail for battery causing domestic violence.

"Whoa!" said William John Meade after the sentence was passed. "Is there any way that can be lessened?"

Meade pleaded guilty to the charge which included a prior offense and waived his right to a lawyer.

"There's a way, but I'm not going to do it," EnEarl said. "This is an abusive relationship without question. Somebody is going to die before it's over."

Meade said he and the victim were going to end their 13-year relationship.

"You should have bailed out of that years ago," EnEarl said.

He ordered Meade to undergo one year of counseling to begin immediately after his release from jail.

EnEarl warned Meade that a third conviction for battery causing domestic violence would be a felony and he would have to go to prison.

According to reports, the victim called the sheriff's office from the Family Support Council where she fled following their fight Feb. 21 in the driveway of Meade's Foothill Road home.

Deputies said she had a swollen, purple left eye and older bruises on both wrists. Her lips and arm were scratched.

"We got into it again," Meade said. "My fiancée, girlfriend - whatever - drinks very heavily before she gets home from work. That's why we have to split up."

The victim told deputies that Meade pushed her, grabbed and dragged her into the residence and slapped her face before she got away.

She said they also fought Feb. 15 but she was afraid to repor