By Guy Leonard, County Times
LEONARDTOWN, Md. (May 29, 2008)—A man convicted of multiple counts last week in Circuit Court, including second-degree assault, first degree burglary and stalking his former girlfriend, could face more than 50 years in prison if sentenced to the maximum time allowed by law. Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel J. White, who prosecuted the case, said Carrington Raphael Carter, 35, of Lexington Park carried out a pattern of abuse against Alice Lynn Wolinski that lasted nearly three months.
“We had three separate jury trials and he was convicted in every one,” White said. “There were two different incidents as the bookends to the case and there was some violence in between.”
The first incident occurred June 13 of last year, according to charging documents against Carter, when he beat Wolinski; causing her two black eyes, a bloody nose and bruising on her upper arms and chest.
Deputies who responded to Wolinski’s residence June 18 of last year for another disturbance between she and Carter learned of the assault five days earlier after interviewing Wolinski.
According to a court transcript of Carter’s testimony about the incident that night, he testified he hit Wolinski once, in the face, after she had first lunged at him.
Carter denied causing the other bruising that had been documented in police photographs.
Carter was charged with second-degree assault stemming from that incident, according to charging documents.
Just a few days later, on June 22, Carter was again charged by sheriff’s deputies with violating an ex-parte order filed against him by Wolinski. The order had been granted June 20, charging documents stated.
Court papers state that Carter had engaged in “continued harassment via telephone” by calling Wolinski on his cell phone against the conditions of the ex-parte order.
Charging documents revealed that Wolinski also believed Carter had called her about 31 times from a private phone number in a short period of time.
Carter would be charged with violating a judge’s protective order three more times during the span of the case with Wolinski, White said, and would also be convicted on each one of those counts.
The last serious incident of violence against Wolinski, court papers state, occurred Aug. 14 of last year when Carter attempted to force his way into Wolinski’s residence.
According to court documents, that evening Carter again attempted to call Wolinski and then went to her home and began to shake the doorknobs of the front and back doors of the home.
When he could not find his way in through usual means, court papers state, Carter began to unclip the air conditioning unit from the outside of Wolinski’s home nearest her front door.
Wolinski attempted to push back on the air conditioning unit but Carter, who weighed 250 pounds, pushed the air conditioning through the window slot, shattering glass.
Wolinski suffered cuts to her lip, chin and arms, charging documents state, from trying to thwart Carter’s entry.
In all, Carter was convicted of first-degree burglary, attempted first-degree burglary, second-degree assault, three violations of a judge’s protective order and stalking, White said.
The burglary convictions carry a maximum of 20 years in prison each, while the assault charge carries 10 years. The stalking charge could net Carter five years incarceration.
White said that if Carter had not been convicted, the outcome of the string of incidents could have been much worse.
“He was on probation at the time for assault on another person,” White told The County Times. “This could’ve gotten as bad as it gets; this had all the elements of becoming a fatal incident.”
Carter’s sentencing is scheduled to take place in June.