A Dothan man received a 30-year prison sentence on Thursday after a jury found him guilty of using a hot iron to assault his former girlfriend.
Assistant Houston County District Attorney Patrick Amason said the jury found 38-year-old James Alter Bigham guilty for the second time on a felony first-degree domestic violence charge.
Court records indicate Dothan police arrested Bigham in September 2005 on the domestic violence charge.
Amason said a jury already convicted Bigham of the offense, but it was reversed on appeal. He also said at the conclusion of the first trial Bigham received a 25-year sentence, but this week Circuit Court Judge Michael Conaway gave Bigham a 30-year prison sentence.
“He choked her, grabbed a hot iron and severely burned her on the chest, causing permanent disfigurement and scarring,” Amason said he argued at trial. “It was a horrible and disgusting crime.”
Amason said the former girlfriend testified during both trials. He said Bigham faced a similar sentence to that of murder and attempted murder of 10 to 99 years or life in prison for the class A felony crime of first-degree domestic violence.
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