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ET CETERA2A | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2011 WWW.CLINTONHERALD.COM

“It’s tough. It’s notsomething Ilike doing,”Horne said, “but it allcomes down to getting thebudget solvent.”

Later in the meeting,city officials also lookedinto ways to cut spendingfrom the general fund, inorder to start rebuildingthe city’s reserves.

A public hearing for thebudget has been sched-uled for 9:30 a.m. March14 at CityHall.

STREETStory continued from 1A

The jury also was asked aspecial question that it hadto fill out along with the 11verdict forms it was givenat the start of deliberations.That question asked jurorsif they believed Zmuda wasarmed with a dangerousweapon at the time of theoffense. The jury answered“yes,” which will lead to afive-year sentencingenhancement that wassought by Clinton CountyAttorney Mike Wolf on thewillful injury charge.

Zmuda will be formallysentenced at 1:30 p.m.March 31 in ClintonCounty District Court.

The jury returned its ver-dict four days into the trialthat began Monday andduring which Zmuda faceda charge of attempted mur-der, a Class B felony thatcarries a prison sentence ofup to 25 years, and a ClassC willful injury charge.

Those charges stemmedfrom the Sept. 9 fight inwhich David Specht wasstabbed nine times – threetimes in the front of hisbody and six times in theback – as the two foughtimmediately after Zmudaand his father heard Spechtbreak out a window onZmuda’s Blazer around3:30 a.m.

Specht sought to damagethe vehicle in retaliation fora broken window at hisgirlfriend’s home just a fewblocks away – a windowthat he believed had beenbroken with a rock thrownby Zmuda, who had beenfriends with Specht up untila few weeks before thefight.

The jury was faced withtwo different scenarios.

The prosecution believedthat Zmuda had an ax togrind with Specht over the

girlfriend, who previouslyhad a relationship withZmuda.

Wolf during the trialbrought witnesses to thestand who stated Zmudahad been out at a friend’shouse, about a five-minutewalk from his parents’home at 1018 S. EighthStreet where he was stay-ing, until about 3 thatmorning. Wolf said Zmudawent past the house whereSpecht and girlfriendEmily Huizenga were liv-ing, at 838 11th Ave. South,and threw a rock at a housewindow, shattering theglass. Wolf said Zmudathen went home.

Specht then walked overto the Zmuda home with atwo-by-four wooden boardand hit the passenger sidewindow of Zmuda’s Blazer.That brought Zmuda out-side and the two tussled.Wolf believes Zmudabrought a knife with himand used it to stab Specht,who he said was there onlyto damage the vehicle, nothave a physical altercationwith Zmuda. He saidSpecht was trying to getaway from Zmuda, butZmuda kept chasing him.

One issue Wolf had toexplain to the jury was thatno weapon had been recov-ered.

There was a knife at thescene, but Wolf maintainedthe knife was actuallySpecht’s and that it waslater found in an area nearwhere Specht’s wallet hadfallen out and whereSpecht had to retrieve hispants that had fallen offduring the fight. That knife,which Wolf said hebelieved was not used byZmuda, was sent for testingat the state crime lab andresults found neither fin-gerprints nor blood on theknife.

Wolf told the jury hebelieved Zmuda had aknife on him and used it to

stab Specht then later hidthe knife, possibly with thehelp of his family.

But defense attorneyBruce Ingham said thatscenario just didn’t makesense.

During testimony,Ingham questionedBrandon Zmuda’s father,David, who said he and hisson were watching TV onthe home’s first floor whenthey heard a loud bang out-side. The took off out thefront door to see what wasgoing on. Meanwhile,David’s wife andBrandon’s motherMaryellen, grabbed hercell phone and stepped out-side just as the front doorwas closing. She called 9-1-1 and told the dispatcherwhat was happening as shewatched her son andSpecht fight. David Zmudawas close behind his sonthroughout the incident aswell. Both she and her hus-band testified that Spechthit Brandon in the headwith the wooden board;Brandon Zmuda also toldhis father that Specht had aknife, David Zmuda testi-fied.

As the fight continued,David Zmuda said, hepulled his son off Spechtand said he needed to stopfighting, to leave it to thepolice who were arriving.Specht then started backtoward his home. Police afew minutes later werecalled to that address andfound Specht on the steps,bleeding profusely.

Zmuda family memberstestified they went back tothe house to talk to police,who were there for a fewminutes and then weresummoned for the stabbingcall a few blocks away.The family said they weretold to go into the houseand sit down until thepolice came back.Maryellen said the familysat down at the kitchen

table and David andBrandon each smoked acigarette. As they finished,the police arrived, the fam-ily said during testimony.

Family members saidthey willingly allowedpolice to search theirhome, take them to thepolice station for question-ing and then allowedpolice to search the yard.No part of the house wasoff limits, they testified.

In his closing arguments,Ingham said Wolf was try-ing to make the jurybelieve the Zmudas hid theknife while officers weregone or when police werenot watching them, some-thing that Clinton PoliceOfficer Tony Stone saidcould have been for as longas 20 minutes once thoseofficers arrived at theZmuda home a secondtime, which they did afterrealizing the two casesmay be connected.

But Ingham was emphat-ic that the actual weaponwas the knife Spechtbrought with him.

As for who inflicted thewounds, Ingham said noone, probably not evenSpecht or Zmuda, knowsfor sure, since they werefighting in an “octopuswrestling match.” He saidthe knife may have beenfree of fingerprints andblood due to weather con-ditions.

While Ingham said hefelt bad for Specht, the juryhad to remember it wasSpecht who showed upwith the wooden board anda knife. He pointed out theZmudas were cooperativewith police and that theywere left alone by police --they did not force policeofficers away from them.

He said if Zmuda hadbrought his own knife tothe fight and tried to hideit, the Clinton PoliceDepartment would havefound it.

ZMUDAStory continued from 2A

Teen sentencedto RCF for theftBy Charlene BielemaHerald Editor

CLINTON — A Clintonteenager has been sentencedto the Residential CorrectionsFacility in Davenport for hisrole in intimidating a Clintonbicyclist into giving him $10last fall.

Jeremy R. Robinson, 17,originally was charged withsecond-degree robbery, acharge that was dropped aspart of the plea agreement,and pleaded guilty to first-degree theft for the Oct. 26incident.

He could have been sentstraight to prison for up to 10years on the theft charge, aClass C felony. Instead,Clinton County DistrictCourt Judge Charles Peltonon Thursday suspended theprison sentence and sentRobinson to the RCF for sixmonths of programming.

Clinton County AttorneyMike Wolf said the programis hard work, as Robinsonmust follow its guidelines, goto school, get a job, takecourses to recognize criminalbehavior and get substanceabuse counseling if neces-sary.

Robinson was one of twoteens accused of takingmoney from a man theystopped as he rode a bicyclein the 500 block of FourthAvenue South on Oct. 26.

Maurice Phillips, 17, alsowas charged and has pleadedguilty to first-degree theft. Heis awaiting sentencing.

GrainsPrices quoted at 8 a.m.today; subject to fluctuation.Prices may vary slightly atcounty buying stations. • ADM/Growmark: No. 2 yel-low corn Clinton $6.88.• County PIK price: Corn$6.58, beans $12.90, oats$3.21, winter wheat $8.01 andspring wheat $7.69.

HospitalsMERCY NORTH HOSPITALNo admissions reported.

River StagesFRIDAYLaCrosse, Wis. 7.73 up .19Dubuque Dam 11 8.73 down .37Dubuque 11.22 down .34Bellevue 10.93 down .58Fulton, Ill. 8.80 down .21Camanche 12.14 down .16LeClaire 6.90 up .09Rock Island, Ill. 10.05 down .12Muscatine 11.33 down .06Keithsburg, Ill. 11.64 up .06Burlington 13.61 down .07Keokuk 10.95 down .46L/D 13 Pool: 14.22 down .20L/D 13 Tail: 8.80 down .21L/D 15 Pool: 18.60 up .26L/D 15 Tail: 10.05 down .12L/D 16 Pool: 10.48 down .09L/D 16 Tail: 9.50 down .06Maquoketa River 15.25 down .59Wapsipinicon River 11.36 down .13 Rock River, Ill. 12.76 up .06

LotteriesIOWAEvening Pick 3: 1-2-7Evening Pick 4: 4-6-8-0$100,000 Cash Game: 3-16-20-21-29ILLINOISMidday Pick 3: 2-9-9Midday Pick 4: 1-7-4-2Evening Pick 3: 1-2-7Evening Pick 4: 4-6-8-0Little Lotto: 1-16-21-23-36Est. Lotto jackpot: $4.75millionEst. Mega Millions jackpot:$76 millionEst. Powerball jackpot: $184millionDrawing date: Feb. 24, 2011

Wis. Assemblypasses bill takingaway union rightsAssociated Press

MADISON, Wis. —Republicans in theWisconsin Assembly tookthe first significant actionon their plan to strip collec-tive bargaining rights frommost public workers,abruptly passing the meas-ure early this morningbefore sleep-deprivedDemocrats realized whatwas happening.

The vote ended threestraight days of punishingdebate in the Assembly.But the political standoffover the bill — and themonumental protests at thestate Capitol against it —appear far from over.

The Assembly’s votesent the bill on to theSenate, but minorityDemocrats in that househave fled to Illinois to pre-vent a vote. No one knowswhen they will return fromhiding. Republicans whocontrol the chamber sentstate troopers out lookingfor them at their homes onThursday, but they turnedup nothing.

“I applaud theDemocrats in the Assemblyfor earnestly debating thisbill and urge their counter-parts in the state Senate toreturn to work and do thesame,” Assembly SpeakerJeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon,said in a statement issuedmoments after the vote.

The plan fromRepublican Gov. ScottWalker contains a numberof provisions he says aredesigned to fill the state’s$137 million deficit and laythe groundwork for fixing aprojected $3.6 billionshortfall in the upcoming2011-13 budget.

The flashpoint is lan-guage that would requirepublic workers to con-tribute more to their pen-sions and health insuranceand strip them of their rightto collectively bargain ben-efits and work conditions.

Democrats and unionssee the measure as anattack on workers’ rightsand an attempt to crippleunion support forDemocrats. Union leaderssay they would make pen-sion and health care con-cessions if they can keeptheir bargaining rights, butWalker has refused to com-promise.

Tens of thousands ofpeople have jammed theCapitol since last week toprotest, pounding on drumsand chanting so loudly thatpolice providing securityhave resorted to ear plugs.Hundreds have taken tosleeping in the buildingovernight, dragging in airmattresses and blankets.

SATURDAY: Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow.High in the upper 20s.SATURDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with a chance of lightsnow. Low in the mid 20s.SUNDAY: Not as cold. Cloudy with a chance of lightrain or freezing rain or light snow or isolated thun-derstorms. High in the upper 30s.SUNDAY NIGHT: Rain likely. Low in the lower 30s.

YesterdayOfficial High 35Official Low 22Precipitation 0Snowfall 0

TodayHigh one year ago 29Low one year ago 7All-time high 70, 2000All-time low -12, 1940, ‘67

Normal high 37Normal low 20Precip. for month 1.91Normal precip. for month 1.50Precip. for year 2.80Normal precip. for year 2.86Snowfall for month 12.3Normal snowfall for month 6.8Sunrise: 6:43Sunset: 5:48

In Clinton

Today’s local weather

© 2005 Wunderground.com

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Tonight/SaturdaySaturday, Feb. 26

City/RegionLow | High tempsForecast for

Sioux City9° | 23°

Council Bluffs13° | 27°

Des Moines14° | 27°

Mason City5° | 18°

Davenport20° | 29°

Burlington22° | 31°

TODAY: Cloudy. High around 30. TONIGHT: Cloudy with a chance of snow. Low around 18.

Around the United States

Record breaking cold t

Sunny Pt. Cloudy CloudyNational forecastForecast highs for Saturday, Feb. 26

Fronts PressureCold Warm Stationary Low High

70s80s

40s

60s

20s

0s 10s

50s

30s

70s70s

-0s0s

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30s

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KY.© 2011 Wunderground.com

Tonight/SaturdaySaturday, Feb. 26

City/RegionLow | High tempsForecast for

Moline20° | 29°

Rockford18° | 27°

Chicago22° | 31°

Champaign23° | 36°

Cairo31° | 54°

St. Louis27° | 49°

Springfield25° | 36°

Peoria27° | 45°

Effingham27° | 45°

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