by Hudson Kamphausen CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT – The case of Jason Spencer, the samaritan former US Army sergeant who defended Rep. Maryam Khan from a deranged attacker last June, seems to have ended Thursday with minor consequences for the defendant.
Spencer, who was charged with third-degree assault after police obtained a video of him kicking the alleged attacker in the head, was granted a one-day accelerated rehabilitation (AR) program by Judge Courtney Chaplin during his hearing Thursday, May 16.
If Spencer completes the one-day AR program with no issues, the assault charge will be dropped. After the hearing, he said he wanted to thank all of the people who signed his petition and donated to his cause.
“It feels good. Finally behind me and I can move forward. Just take it one day at a time now, and finally breathe and relax,” Spencer said Thursday.
Accelerated rehabilitation carries a probation period of up to two years, but once any assigned probation is completed, it and the original incident are erased from an individual’s record.
It’s been about 11 months since Spencer, a Coventry resident who is an honorably discharged U.S. Army veteran, came to Khan’s aid outside the XL Center in June and reportedly fought off the alleged attacker, Andrey Desmond, and then pursued him and detained him until police arrived.
Khan, a Windsor resident who was born in Pakistan and represents Windsor, Hartford, and South Windsor in the House’s 5th District, said after the hearing that she had hoped the process would have been quicker to help Spencer move on, but that the one-day AR was a good outcome.
“The best case scenario would have been him not being charged,” Khan said. “But I think, if he was going to be charged, then this was the best case in that scenario.”
The attack on Khan occurred after a prayer service to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday. Months later during this year’s legislative session she proposed legislation that would have made it easier to charge people for a hate crime and easier for people who witness incidents like hers to step in and help.
That legislation failed to get out of the Judiciary Committee during the short session, which ended May 8.
Spencer was previously instructed by Judge Chaplin to apply for a diversionary program and to return to court March 13. The case was then prolonged when the prosecution, led by Chief State’s Attorney for Hartford Sharmese Walcott, said it needed more time to review the evidence of the case.
Spencer’s attorney, Aaron Romano, said in March that since the beginning of the case, Spencer had lost his job as a rideshare driver. Spencer said that he received an email from Uber telling him that, as long as the case was ongoing, he could not drive for the company.