BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — District Judge Marianne O. Battani is expected to preside today over a case in Kentucky involving a U.S. Senator and his disgruntled neighbor.
Battani is the special judge appointed to oversee the sentencing of Dr. Rene Boucher, who is charged with assaulting U.S Senator Rand Paul. Battani was assigned to the case by Chief Judge Guy Cole Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
All of Kentucky’s federal judges recused themselves from involvement in the case, citing the fact that the alleged victim is a Senator from the state.
Battani was assigned to hear the case in January.
Boucher signed a plea agreement indicating he plans to plead guilty to assaulting a member of Congress resulting in personal injury.
Boucher claims he “lost his temper” over yard debris on the property line between his and Rand’s homes, a court filing in the federal case said.
Boucher is asking Battani to grant probation in the case. Prosecutors are seeking a 21-month prison sentence.
A sentencing memorandum filed Friday by Boucher’s attorney said Paul repeatedly placed “unsightly” yard debris near the property line. On the day before the Nov. 3 attack, Boucher burned some debris left by Paul, according to the document obtained by the Daily News of Bowling Green. The next day, Paul placed more debris on the spot where the pile had been burned, it said.
Boucher, 60, has pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress and is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
Boucher’s attorney, Matt Baker, filed the 10-page document in U.S. District Court on Friday. A call to Baker’s office was not returned Monday. The filing argued that putting Boucher in prison would serve no useful purpose.
“Other than the isolated incident that is in issue, Dr. Boucher has been a pillar of his community, a solid citizen, a family man and a devout Christian,” Baker wrote in his memorandum.
It said the disagreement over yard debris dates back to September 2017, when Paul piled a 10-foot-wide (3-meter-wide) stack of limbs onto a spot near Boucher’s property. The pile sat until October, when Boucher picked it up and hauled it away in portable dumpsters.
“Even though this debris was not on Dr. Boucher’s property, he viewed it as unsightly — as it was placed directly in his line of sight from his patio and the back door of his house,” the court record said.
Two more piles of debris appeared in the same month, and Boucher burned the pile on Nov. 2. Boucher used gasoline and suffered second-degree burns that he needed treatment for, the memorandum said.
The next day, Paul used his lawnmower to blow leaves onto Boucher’s yard and then made another branch pile in the same spot, it said.
“As Dr. Boucher has stated throughout, he lost his temper and tackled Rand Paul as Paul was carrying branches from another location on his property and placing them on the property line,” the memorandum said.
Boucher also denied that the dispute was fueled by political differences with Paul, a Republican.
“Dr. Boucher has adamantly denied any such political motivations throughout, as even the suggestion of them is completely unfounded and simply not true,” the memorandum said.
Battani was nominated to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by President William Clinton in June, 1999 and confirmed by the Senate in May, 2000. Prior to her appointment to the federal bench, she served as a state circuit court judge in Wayne County, Michigan, since 1982.
Battani is a former Commissioner of the State Bar of Michigan, past president of the Women's Lawyer's Association of Michigan, past Chair of Michigan's Judicial Tenure Commission, and Trustee Emeritus of the Michigan State University College of Law.
She graduated in 1972 cum laude from the Detroit College of Law.
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