Massena man jailed on a criminal contempt count FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2013 ARTICLE OPTIONS AA MASSENA - A Massena man was jailed on $2,000 cash bail Thursday night after he allegedly violated an order of protection by making 20 phone calls, leaving threatening voice mails and sending 40 text messages to his estranged wife over a two-day period. Village police charged Joshua C. Branham, 30, of 134 Center St., Apt. 1, Massena, with second-degree criminal contempt at 10:01 p.m. Thursday. He was arraigned by Massena Town Justice Gerald P. Sharlow and sent to the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility with bail set at $2,000 cash or $4,000 bond. St. Lawrence County Family Court Judge Cecily L. Morris had signed an order of protection directing Branham not to harass, annoy or alarm Melinda Branham, 26. The order of protection was signed May 8 and remains in effect until May 7, 2014. Ms. Branham, in the statement she provided police Thursday night, said she not answered any of his calls that had started Wednesday and continued through Thursday. “... I have told him numerous times to stop texting me, and he continues to text me and told me he is not going to stop,” she said. Village police had charged Branhamwith third-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury and criminal obstruction breathing Oct. 15 following a domestic dispute with his wife. Branham allegedly punched Ms. Branham in the right side of her head with his left hand, and also allegedly applied pressure to her throat while telling her, “I’m gonna take you out,” according to court records. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of third-degree attempted assault count on May 8 in the county’s Integrated Domestic Violence Court and was placed under a conditional discharge. In a statement she signed for police following the October 2012 incident, Ms. Branham said the argument escalated after her husband became upset and began calling her names because he wanted her to get up and clean with him. At one point, she said, Branham spit in her face and, when she tried to push him away, he punched her in the right side of her head. “I started swinging back and I got away. I ran through the kitchen and tried to grab a knife to defend myself because Joshua told me he was going to kill me and all the knives fell on the floor from the butcher block. I was not able to get a knife,” Ms. Branham said in her statement. After Ms. Branham ran into the bedroom, Branham allegedly pinned her while she as on the phone and tried to grab the phone after she told him she was calling police. “Joshua grabbed me by the throat with both his hands and said, ‘You are messing with the kids lifes. I’m gonna take you out of it,’” Ms. Branham said. “At first I could breath but then I couldn’t. I told Joshua he was really gonna kill me and he said, ‘That’s the point.’” She said that, after Branham let up a bit, she crawled to the bathroom and he left the residence.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 17:16:52 +0000