Man gets three years for beating

A 21-year-old Spokane man was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for savagely beating a middle-aged man who rescued his daughter-in-law from the defendant.

Samson Lawrence Lane was allowed to plead guilty to one count of second-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault in a deal made possible by his victim, Anthony M. Resendez.

“He showed a great capacity for forgiveness,” Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen said.

When police Officer Rob Boothe found Resendez lying in a large pool of blood on the sidewalk at Division and Glass, he was unable to distinguish Resendez’s facial features.

Boothe reported that Resendez’s lip had been torn loose, there was a hole in his chin and both of his eyes were swollen shut. When Boothe asked Resendez who attacked him, Resendez spit out some of his teeth and several large clots of blood and said, “Sam.”

Neighbor Timothy Mannix looked out his window and saw Lane kick Resendez repeatedly in the face and neck for about 40 seconds until another man intervened.

The incident began about 11:50 p.m. last June 21 when Lane came to the Three Dishes restaurant, where his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer L. Porath, was working. Lane slapped her face, and she went outside, fearing the incident would cost her job.

Lane followed her and pushed her across Division Street. Resendez, who also was at the restaurant, approached Lane and asked him to leave Porath, his daughter-in-law, alone. She said she ran back to the restaurant for help when Lane attacked Resendez.

Cameron Wilder pulled Lane off Resendez and called police on his cell phone.

Officer Boothe found Lane at Porath’s home. Lane initially denied any knowledge of a fight. Then, confronted with blood on his shoes and pants, Lane claimed he struck a man several times in self-defense. He claimed two men chased him when he tried to walk away from an argument with Porath.

Lane had been charged with first-degree assault. He agreed to accept an above-standard sentence on the reduced charges and was given credit for 252 days he has already served.

Assistant Public Defender Michael Elston said Lane is a “kind-hearted young man” with a serious drinking problem. Lane, who has an eighth-grade education, is “not particularly sophisticated or intelligent for his age,” Elston said.

Lane apologized to Resendez in court.