WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A man attending the murder trial of a man accused of fatally shooting a relative was charged Tuesday with assaulting a woman in a restroom at the Forsyth County courthouse, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.
Charles Arthur Goldsmith, 35, of Forest Parkway in Clayton County, Georgia, is charged with misdemeanor assault on a female, an arrest warrant said. The arrest warrant alleges that he punched Michelle Annette Robertson twice in the head.
The incident happened at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday when Robertson and Goldsmith encountered each other in a lobby on the fifth floor of the Forsyth County Hall of Justice. Billy Jackson Simmons III is on trial in courtroom 5A for first-degree murder in the death of Goldsmith’s relative, Acara Demond Goldsmith, on Nov. 10, 2016.
Robertson’s sister, Jeanette Johnson, was testifying for the defense. Johnson is Simmons’ cousin and was called to corroborate Simmons’ account of what happened on the day Goldsmith was killed. Simmons testified that he shot Goldsmith because Goldsmith had threatened his life and appeared to have a gun. Goldsmith did not have a gun, prosecutors have said.
Charles Goldsmith charged toward her and kept her from closing the restroom door. He pushed his hand through the crack in the door, Robertson said. Goldsmith punched her twice in the head before a woman pulled him away, she said. Robertson said her head was hurting and she went to the hospital. She said left the hospital because she got tired of waiting but has a doctor’s appointment Thursday.
Christina Howell, a spokeswoman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, said in an email Wednesday that Robertson went to the Magistrate’s Office and obtained an arrest warrant. Goldsmith was arrested, then released on a $3,000 bond, she said. He is scheduled to appear in Forsyth District Court on Oct. 18.
Read more at Winston-Salem Journal.