Wasilla man sentenced to eight years for assault

PALMER — A Wasilla man was sentenced to eight years Wednesday in a Palmer courtroom.

David Hyde, 64, was arrested Feb. 27, 2018, after attacking a man over a financial disagreement. Hyde was sentenced for assault charges that originally stemmed from attempted murder allegations.

“I was talking to the individual, arguing with him. I told him we need to take this to court. Looked like he was gonna’ agree with me then moments later, I thought there was like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Not to play a pun on his name but I all of a sudden saw an individual that I did not recognize and it was that quick,” Arthur Dickinson, the victim, said.

The pre-sentence report classified Hyde as “double presumptive” due to his string of prior convictions, which includes cases of sexual abuse of a minor, assault and coercion, according to Palmer Judge Kari Kristiansen. The defense and prosecution both accepted the double presumptive without rebuttal.

“I’ve had a lot of stress since this happened,” Dickinson said. “We’re well aware this is not his first offense.”

Dickinson told Kristiansen that he was worried about his safety once Hyde is released from prison, particularly if he is “released immediately.”

“I check my mail not far from where he lives,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson said that he was upgrading his home and shop’s security systems and was even considering relocating, “just to get farther away from him.”

“On the way to the jail house, he [Hyde] told the police officer from the back seat, ‘well I guess I’m gonna’ have to the place down now.’ So I’m in the middle of trying to afford the sprinkler system, a fire alarm system, and upgrade my alarm system.” Dickinson said.

Dickinson said that he’s suffered intense trauma since the incident, saying that it’s affected his waking and sleeping life.

“I sleep for a while then I wake up with cold sweats and freaking out. Every time I see David trying to kill me,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson said the attack resulted from a talk over finances. Dickinson hired Hyde as a contractor. He said that they came to an initial agreement over his payment then Hyde claimed he was owed more and an argument ensued, which ultimately led to Hyde brandishing a knife in the scuffle and getting arrested shortly after.

“If it wasn’t for my son, I probably would be dead,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson said that his son was able to subdue Hyde to the ground. According to the original dispatch entry from Alaska State Troopers, the Palmer Criminal Suppression Unit arrived at Dickinson’s mechanic shop and arrested the subdued assailant after Dickinson was assaulted by Hyde several times, “stating that [Hyde] would kill [Dickinson].” Dickinson suffered a minor neck injury from the attack.

“He’s obviously got a switch inside him that goes on and off very quickly. It’s scary,” Dickinson said. “Now what I know what a victim feels like when I used to have no compassion, or limited compassion for the victim, ‘oh c’mon, get over this.’ I now see what they go through…”

During Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Burton’s closing argument, she said that Hyde’s prospects for rehabilitation were “extremely low” mostly due to his age that derived from a lengthy and violent criminal background, “especially the coercion,” referring to a case from 1997 involving sexual abuse towards an underage victim.

“To me, there’s some pretty significant parallels between the coercion in this case- and that case happened a long time ago, 20 years ago… Whether he can’t control himself or won’t control himself, I don’t know what it is but he has an issue with self-control I think,” Burton said.

Burton said that while Hyde may have done “fairly well” during his last probation, she wants to prioritize strong isolation and deterrent components in this sentence due to his violent nature, history and apparent lack of remorse, “especially considering what he said to the trooper when he was picked up.”

Burton acknowledged the lingering question over Hyde’s mental health and she expressed to Kristiansen that the state would be open to some rehabilitative options despite his age and history.

“I do think that maybe giving him one more shot with a suspended sentence may not necessarily be a bad thing. That being said, I’m still going to ask for quite a bit of time to serve. I do think there needs to be some isolation and deterrents there and Mr. Hyde’s history requires it,” Burton said.

Hyde’s public defender’s closing argument focused heavily on Hyde’s mental state, suggesting that he may have a traumatic brain injury, which she cited as the cause of his violent tendencies. She said that Dickson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde analogy was to her, indicative to someone who has issues controlling anger and that talking to Hyde about his past showed her that mental health was a “very large problem for him.”

Hyde’s attorney asked for both psychiatric and neurological testing to investigate his state of mind and see if there is any physical damage. She said that he fared well during probation.

After both closing arguments, Kristiansen asked Hyde if he wanted to provide any further comment.

“I’m sincerely sorry about the whole situation. I don’t believe it ever would have happened if Art hadn’t jumped up screaming at me at the top of his lungs and charged at me. But, what happened is what happened and I never swung my knife at his neck,” Hyde said.

Hyde claimed that Dickinson’s neck injury was from a “snagging fingernail.”

“As soon as I realized that I had reacted badly, I tried to not stab him because I already had my knife out,” Hyde said.

After a pause, Kristiansen asked Hyde if he wanted to tell her anything else. Hyde said that he suffered skull fractures after Dickinson “stomped him on the head” and continued to defend his position, saying that he never intended to assault anyone.

“I have to say that the statement you gave me today is at least 80 percent fiction,” Kristiansen said. “I’ll tell you why it’s fiction. It’s fiction because you told the people that were there as well as the police that you intended to kill Mr. Dickerson.

“At the moment that he charged at me, I mean yes I did,” Hyde said as Kristiansen was in midsentence.

Kristiansen told Hyde that his previous attorney was able to convince the jury that he did not intend to kill Dickinson that day and that came as a, “bit of a shock to the court.”

“The facts in this case are so egregious they supported the charge of attempted murder; and as you sit here today convicted of assault in the second degree, under the facts that support the assault in the second degree, it is the most egregious and it is within the range of what I perceive to be a stronger assault two charge than your run of the mill case. Because in this court’s opinion, you were trying to kill Mr. Dickerson,” Burton said. “…Your version is entirely inconsistent with the trial that I heard.”

Kristiansen said that Hyde’s prior criminal history was very concerning to her.