CONVICTED DOMESTC BATTERER RECEIVES 10-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE

A Spartanburg County man received a 10-year prison sentence today after jurors determined he cut his estranged wife’s face and stabbed her neck.

Irving Twitty, 41, was found guilty of criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature at the conclusion of a three-day jury trial. Circuit Judge Roger Couch issued the maximum sentence allowed under state law.

The assault occurred July 21, 2006 at the Days Inn, 115 Rogers Commerce Blvd. The 40-year-old victim testified that she was the victim of an abusive marriage and she separated from her husband. The victim testified that Twitty assaulted her while she was attempting to do her housekeeping duties at work. He poked her in the stomach with an unknown object, cut her face and stabbed her before she could get co-worker to call 911. Twitty left the hotel property before sheriff’s deputies arrived. He was arrested about a month later.

The victim received about 150 stitches on her face. Her neck was treated with staples and she underwent cosmetic surgery.

Assistant Solicitor Tiffany Freeman based her case off the victim’s testimony, the hotel employee who saw Twitty at the business moments before and after the crime, photos and the accompanying 911 telephone call.

The defendant also testified during the trial. He claimed he was at Greenville County rehabilitation facility when the assault occurred. Freeman refuted the claim by calling a representative from the Greenville facility to testify.

“The victim made a decision to get out of a bad marriage and Irving Twitty didn’t like it,” Freeman said. “That was his motive for the violent attack.”

Today’s conviction is Twitty’s third domestic violence conviction in the past nine years.