Bend man accepts plea deal in baseball-bat attack that critically injured roommate, receives 30-month prison term

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend man who was set to go on trial Wednesday in a baseball-bat assault that critically injured a roommate last August instead was sentenced to 30 months in prison, having just signed a plea deal, while still insisting it was a matter of self-defense.

Timothy John Boyd, 66, who called 911 that day to report he’d hit his roommate in the head with the bat, entered an Alford plea on the eve of his scheduled trial to one of three charges he faced, first-degree attempted assault, a Class B felony. In exchange, the attempted murder charge was dismissed, as well as a charge of unlawful use of a weapon.

Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to a crime, only that the evidence likely would lead to a conviction.

Boyd spoke at the emotional sentencing hearing before Deschutes County Circuit Judge Beth Bagley, as did his still-recovering victim, Stephen Jay Steria, 66, who Deputy District Attorney Joseph Langerman said was found in a pool of blood and so severely wounded, at least one officer thought he was dead.

As there was no dispute about what Boyd did, the trial would have focused on Boyd’s claim of self-defense.

Steria walked up and stood beside the prosecutor to deliver his victim impact statement, the only one given this day. He said the assault left him in a coma for four days, the start of nearly three weeks in the hospital, and he’s still seeing numerous doctors for treatment of his injuries.

“Thirty months – he (Boyd) is getting off light,” Steria said, adding that he agreed to the plea deal because he didn’t want to risk going to trial.

Boyd’s attorney, Evander McIver, told of how 18 months before the assault, Steria had attacked Boyd, putting him in a chokehold, and that Boyd’s brother “had to pray his fingers off him.”

That night last August, Steria “was completely wasted,” McIver said, and making rude comments. Soon, Steria threatened to kill Boyd, sending him running to his room for the bat. Boyd gave him warnings, calling on him to stop as he screamed for help.

“They engage,” the attorney said, and Boyd was swinging the bat, “trying to get him to stop.” McIver admitted he “probably went too far trying to stop this plea deal,” but said in the end it was “not my call – it’s Mr. Boyd’s call,” to avoid the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.

Then, Boyd spoke by video hookup from the jail, saying Steria “came at me with bad intent, backed me into a corner” and that his “instincts took over – fight or flight.” He said he tries to avoid violence at all times, and doesn’t start things, “but when someone else starts it, I defend myself.”

“I don’t want to go to prison,” he told the judge. “I’ve never done drugs in my whole life” – and he said he’s “going to stop drinking. … Classes, courses, whatever it takes.”

When it was time to pronounce sentence, Bagley said, “It doesn’t sound like anyone’s happy with the sentencing recommendation, but everyone agreed (to it).”

“Mr. Boyd, I don’t know how this would have turned out if it had gone to trial,” the judge said, as it would be “in the hands of 12 jurors,” with “no way to predict the outcome.”

“There are no winners here,” Bagley said. “I am saddened to hear about Steria and what sounds like life-long injuries. … The whole thing is a tragedy.”

The judge imposed the recommended sentence, including that Boyd will be eligible for credit for time served and any prison programs, such as transitional leave and work release. She also included three years of post-prison supervision, including blood and DNA testing -- and no contact with Steria.