Man accused of causing brain bleed with golf club won’t serve time, TN records show

A man accused of striking a golfer in the head with his club won’t serve prison time, Tennessee court records show.

The Mississippi man was indicted on a charge of second-degree attempted murder but pleaded guilty to a lesser offense of attempted aggravated assault on March 5, according to Shelby County records.

In December 2022, two men were golfing when they hit a ball over to another hole, the Memphis Police Department wrote in an arrest affidavit.

The men walked over to get the ball, but they say a 22-year-old golfer picked it up and threw it in the other direction, police said.

One witness reported the 22-year-old seemed “upset,” then he struck one of the men in the head with his golf club, according to police.

The man tried to walk away, but he became disoriented. He was rushed to a hospital and underwent emergency surgery for a brain bleed, police said.

At the time of his arrest, he was charged with aggravated assault and was released on $5,000 bond, records show.

Van Turner, board president of the Memphis branch of the NAACP, called for stronger charges as the Black victim remained in the hospital 10 days after the incident. The man accused of the attack is white.

“The Memphis NAACP demands justice for one of its dedicated supporters and members .... who is still in the hospital today suffering from brain injuries after he was viciously attacked,” Turner wrote in a statement Dec. 13, 2022. “His attacker stands for arraignment today, and we join the call for the attacker’s charges to be upgraded based on the facts and circumstances of this case.”

Turner described the man as a longstanding “fixture in Memphis civic life,” working with local officials and serving on boards.

In June, the now-23-year-old accused attacker was indicted on a count of attempted murder.

His attorney, Blake Ballin, told McClatchy News over the phone that the incident was not an unprovoked attack on the victim. He said his client reacted to the actions of the other golfer, which may have been an overreaction, but he said the other man was the aggressor.

He denied the incident was race-related.

“The judge said nobody had clean hands,” Ballin said, adding it was an unfortunate end to a dispute. He said given his client’s record, the sentencing made sense.

After he pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated assault, he was sentenced to a four-year prison term with all four years suspended, according to Shelby County records.

He now has a four-year probation, records show.

This story was originally published March 7, 2024 at 1:56 PM.