Originally Posted - July 29, 2006

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INDEPENDENCE, MO-A man charged with assaulting his girlfriend by shoving a cell phone down her throat told the jury that the woman had intentionally swallowed the phone in order to keep him from seeing whom she had been calling.

Prosecutors say that Marlon Brandon Gill, 24, shoved the cell phone down the throat of Melinda Abell, 25, because he was angry and jealous.

The jury deadlocked on a verdict after seven hours of deliberation following a weeklong trial and a mistrial was declared. Prosecutors could retry the case. At one point, the jury voted 9-3 in favor of acquittal and then split 8-4. A unanimous verdict is required.

The phone was removed from the woman's throat by an emergency room doctor following an emergency tracheotomy.

Gill had been charged with first degree assault in December after an argument ensued between the pair as they were driving on U.S. 40 in Blue Springs. There were no witnesses to the incident. Abell testified that she had been drinking during the evening and says she doesn't recall how the phone ended up in her throat. Gill maintains that she swallowed the phone herself to keep him from learning who she had been calling.

He remains in custody on a $100,000 cash only bond. His attorneys will present arguments to the court for bail reduction on Aug. 7. He has been in jail since the Dec. 23 incident and prosecutors argue that he is a threat to the public. 7-29-06

© 2006 North Country Gazette