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Sharon Wallace, 28, faces a possible 12 years in prison for assault on then-boyfriend.
WILKES-BARRE – A Plains Township woman charged with stabbing and injuring her then boyfriend in June 2009 was found guilty Thursday of two related charges.
Sharon Wallace, 28, of Hancock Street, was found guilty of one count each of aggravated assault and simple assault by a Luzerne County jury of 10 women and two men. The jury deliberated for approximately three hours before delivering its verdict after a three-day trial.
Wallace, who was found not guilty of two other charges of aggravated assault and simple assault, will be sentenced on May 3, Judge Tina Polachek Gartley said. Wallace faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on the aggravated assault charge and two years on the simple assault charge.
According to court records, police found Thomas J. Tranell bleeding on the front porch of 37 Jones St. on June 27. Tranell said Wallace stabbed him with a knife during an argument.
Wallace said she was defending herself, according to the complaint, and her testimony Wednesday, when Tranell punched her in the head and sat on her while she was on the kitchen floor. Wallace alleged Tranell tried to sexually assault her while choking her
Police said Tranell suffered a stab wound to his back that punctured a lung and a stab wound to his wrist.
Polachek Gartley said Thursday she was concerned with information she received that Tranell was telling people at the courthouse throughout the trial that he still loved Wallace and wanted a relationship with her.
Tranell told Polachek Gartley that he did not say that, and only said he cared about Wallace. When Polachek Gartley asked Wallace if she wanted contact with Tranell, Wallace replied, “Absolutely not. Ever.”
In his closing argument Thursday morning, Wallace’s attorney, Charles Ross, said prosecutors lacked a motive for his client to walk into her home and stab Tranell, and his client had to defend herself against a “force to be reckoned with.”
He said Tranell weighed significantly more than his client, and Tranell was a champion wrestler and high on cocaine the night of the stabbing.
Assistant District Attorney Nancy Violi said in her closing argument that in order for jurors to believe Wallace’s testimony Wednesday, they’d have to believe investigators and Tranell were lying.
Violi also said Wallace did not act in self defense because she allegedly stabbed Tranell in the back when he was turned away from her.
“(Wallace’s) testimony was like a runaway train,” Violi said. “Once she started (making things up) she couldn’t stop.”