Jury Finds Man Guilty of Slamming Woman’s Head in Car Door, Sentenced to 15 Days in Jail
A jury found Timothy Christopher Brooks, 31, guilty of domestic battery last week before a judge sentenced him to 15 days in jail followed by a year of probation.
Brooks was arrested in January 2025 on a warrant for an incident that occurred in August 2024, court records show.
According to the police report, Brooks and the victim were at a Hungry Howie’s when she attempted to leave due to Brooks’ level of intoxication. When the victim began entering her vehicle, Brooks put her in a headlock from behind and slammed the car door into her head four times. The victim managed to separate herself from Brooks and drove away.
On May 2, 2025, the State Attorney’s Office submitted a supplementary evidence form that included photos of the victim and her vehicle.
On May 21, 2025, the Public Defender’s Office made a motion to limit the victim’s testimony and exclude the photographs of her and the vehicle.
According to the motion, “The photographs are three close-up images of the right side of [the victim’s] face, a filtered selfie image of [the victim], and an image of a blue Honda SUV that is allegedly [the victim’s] car. The State had additionally informed Defense counsel that it would intend to elicit testimony from [the victim] that she believed [Brooks] to have been at a block party with her son prior to the incident in which she alleged [he] battered her.”
The motion calls the victim’s testimony "irrelevant” and says the photographs “create risk of unfair prejudice” towards Brooks. The motion argues the victim’s “belief that Mr. Brooks was at a block party with his son would inflame the jury unfairly against [him] by painting him as an irresponsible father.”
The State Attorney’s Office responded, stating the victim saw a video of Brooks at a block party in the Duval neighborhood shortly after he agreed to pick up their child. The victim contacted her friend who was at the block party and was told that Brooks was present but their child was not. The victim began frantically calling Brooks, but he didn’t respond for hours. Eventually, Brooks called back and told the victim he and their child were at Hungry Howie's. This led the victim to travel to the restaurant, where Brooks battered her.
“This evidence is relevant and inextricably intertwined, as it is required to adequately describe the events leading up to the charged crime of domestic battery,” argued Assistant State Attorney Cameron Life.
Judge Meshon Rawls denied the defense’s motion to limit the victim's testimony but partly granted their motion to exclude the photographs, stating, “As to the close-up images of [the victim] in a red headband and yellow headband, and as to the selfie photograph of [her] with a filter on it, the Defendant's motion is granted. The Court finds that the introduction of these photographs would result in the needless presentation of cumulative evidence… As to the close-up image of [the victim] in a black headband and the two photos of [her] vehicle, the Defendant's motion is denied. The Court finds that the photograph of [the victim] in a black headband is relevant to the charged offense."
During deliberation, the jury requested to review body worn camera (BWC) footage.
The jury also appeared to be confused on the identity of the victim. The State of Florida prosecuted Brooks, but the person he battered is the victim in the case.
It is currently unknown if the jury got to view the BWC video, but they ultimately found Brooks guilty.
Judge Rawls sentenced Brooks to 15 days in the Alachua County Jail followed by one year of probation.
Rawls ordered that Brooks must complete an 8-hour parenting class.
