Stabbing Nets 1 Year Probation
A Kosciusko County man charged with stabbing another man in a Syracuse fight earlier this year was sentenced today to probation.
Scott Koontz, 20, was arrested April 8 after police were called to a fight where Tyler Niles, 24, was stabbed in the neck. Niles suffered several stab wounds and was rushed to the hospital in serious condition.
Niles and Koontz had been roommates.
Koontz was preliminarily charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and was held on a $5,000 bond.
In his sentencing hearing today, Koontz told the court, “I just want to apologize for the situation.”
Kosciusko County Superior Court I Judge Duane Huffer addressed the defendant says, “Mr. Koontz, there is a book called ‘When Good People Do Bad Things.’ I think you’re a good person, but you don’t use your head. I think you need to wake up and smell the coffee and probably associate with different people.”
In addressing the court, defense attorney David Kolbe told Judge Huffer that his client understands that a valid claim of self defense would indicate that Koontz had no means of walking away from the fight, but he chose to fight.
Judge Huffer handed down a 1 year suspended jail term to Koontz. That means Koontz will spend 1 year on probation and as a term of his probation, he must enroll in a GED program and obtain his GED no later than Oct. 31, 2013.