By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 29, 2008

Kevin D. Spriggs picked a particularly bad time to pull a gun on his ex-girlfriend.

On Nov. 4, shortly after 1 p.m., Spriggs, 32, confronted his ex, Yvonne Oliver, at Crown and 69th streets in Seat Pleasant, according to charging documents in a case that ended last week with Spriggs's conviction on charges of first- and second-degree assault, and using a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.

The two argued over Oliver's efforts to obtain child support for their 9-year-old daughter. When Oliver told Spriggs that she would be taking him to court, the documents say, Spriggs pulled out a black revolver, pointed it at her stomach and said, "If you make it to court."

Moments later, Jamie Matthews, a Seat Pleasant police officer, happened to pull up. He hopped out of his cruiser and approached Spriggs and Oliver, according to the charging documents and court testimony.

Spriggs bolted, dropping the .22-caliber Rohm revolver, according to the charging documents. Police recovered the gun, which was fully loaded with six bullets, Prince George's County prosecutors said.

On Tuesday, Spriggs went to trial at Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro. A jury heard testimony from Oliver, Matthews and Spriggs.

In his testimony, Spriggs denied threatening Oliver with a gun and said he ran from the officer because he was smoking a marijuana cigarette, prosecutors said. Spriggs's attorney, Janet Hart, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

The trial took a few hours.

The jury deliberated for about 10 minutes before convicting Spriggs. Judge Maureen Lamasney scheduled sentencing for Aug. 22.

Spriggs, who had been jailed on a $50,000 bond, remained incarcerated after Lamasney turned away a motion by Hart, an assistant public defender, to reduce the bond, prosecutors said.

State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said defendants in civil domestic cases often try to pressure plaintiffs to back off.

"We have a lot of scenarios where there's a case pending, and the defendant -- frequently the male -- pressures the woman to drop the case," Ivey said.

The conviction for the handgun violation carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, Ivey said.