Gilbert Jimenez was on trial for attempted murder, resisting arrest, and assault with a deadly weapon in a case involving a DMV investigator and a CHP officer.
Fresno Police say Jimenez tried to stab the CHP officer during a struggle in a Northeast Fresno parking lot in January of 2008. The DMV investigator said Jimenez also tried to run him over with a van.
A jury found Jimenez "guilty" on the assault and resisting arrest charges. But they did not buy the attempted murder charges involving a knife.
Deputy District Attorney, Sam Dalesandro said, "I'm not going to speculate as to why they did or did not find the knife ... I'm happy they appreciated the situation the officer was in and the fact that the officer was assaulted and that the defendant used a vehicle to do that."
"Actually it's not as bad as it was initially because they didn't find any of the knife allegations to be true. That means they didn't believe Officer Whitney when he said there was a knife," said Attorney, Margarita Martinez-Baly.
The attorney for Jimenez says her client was looking at several strikes and life in prison. Wednesday's verdict means he will get no more than five years and may not get even one strike.
