Ludwig gets suspended sentence

By Cindy Landrum  

FEBRUARY 25, 2010 5:44 p.m. (1)

John Ludwig Jr., the Greenville businessman who avoided jail time for plowing his Maserati through a house and killing the homeowner as he watched television, avoided jail again on Thursday.

A 4-woman, 2-man Greenville Municipal Court jury found Ludwig guilty of criminal domestic violence first offense for hitting his then-estranged wife in February 2009, two months before the fatal wreck.

Municipal Judge Matt Hawley said he was obligated to suspend a jail sentence in a criminal domestic violence first offense case and then ordered Ludwig to pay the minimum allowable fine of $1,000.

Ludwig has until March 5 to pay the fine or he faces 30 days in jail.

“He’s gone through a tremendous year and a half,” Ludwig’s attorney, Bruce Byrholdt, told the judge before sentencing.

It took the jury 42 minutes to convict Ludwig.

Donavan Ludwig testified her ex-husband called her to pick up their two children. When she got there, the pair began to argue.

Donavan Ludwig testified her ex-husband backed her up against a rail on the balcony outside his townhouse.

“His face was so close to my face that I turned my head. He was bent down because he is taller than I am. He was bent down so in the position he was in, his hands were down,” she testified. “He was calling me various names and he punched me in the crotch.”
She testified she left without her children.

She returned later with the police and got her children without incident.

She testified she recorded the incident with a mini recorder she had in her vest pocket. She said her former divorce attorney had advised her to record confrontations with her ex-husband.

Ludwig testified she inadvertently recorded over part of the incident when she returned with a police escort to retrieve her children.

In his closing argument, Byrholdt told the jury they didn’t know what was on that portion of the tape.

He said Donavan Ludwig is heard on tape telling her husband she wished he would hit her so it would all be over with and a few minutes later she said, “Don’t hit me.”

“We don’t hear a slap. There’s no evidence of physical injury,” he said.

He told the jury Donavan Ludwig was using the incident to get an advantage in Family Court.

“That’s not what our criminal justice system is supposed to be used for,” he said.

John Ludwig’s neighbor, Laura Barlow, testified she was inside the town home during the argument and did not see Ludwig hit or spit on his ex-wife during the argument she called heated.

Assistant City Attorney Bob Coler told the jury Barlow was “misremembering” what happened.

“I apologize for accusing you of not remembering correctly, but you’re not remembering correctly,” Coler told Barlow during his cross examination. Coler told Barlow her version did not match the tape made by Donavan Ludwig.

Ludwig did not testify because the state could have brought out his conviction on a reckless homicide charge in connection with the fatal Masarati wreck and an assault charge stemming from an incident with Donavan Ludwig’s paramour, Byrholdt said.

“The most distressing thing about the case is it seems the children are being made pawns in this,” Byrholdt said after the trial.

Coler said he hopes Donavan Ludwig’s courage to stick with the criminal domestic charge sends a message to other victims of violence.

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Jason Boyd  - Courage   |2010-02-25 16:36:56 John could learn a lot about being a man from his ex-wife. You have redefined what courage means today Donavon. Way to go! Reply

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