LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A man accused of holding his girlfriend against her will and resisting law enforcement is changing his course of action.
Dustin Borders pleaded guilty to two of his original charges, criminal confinement and being a habitual offender. His other charges, which were dropped as part of the plea bargain, included intimidation with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, resisting law enforcement with a deadly weapon, unlawful possession of a syringe and possession of paraphernalia.
He is now claiming he is innocent of the criminal confinement charge and wants to take his case to jury trial to prove it.
Court documents say Lafayette Police went to Borders' home around 1 p.m. on February 26th, 2019 to serve a warrant for resisting law enforcement with a vehicle.
Police said they found Borders and his girlfriend, Morgan Edmondson, in the home. They allege Borders held Edmondson in the bathroom with a knife.
As News 18 reported, the SWAT team breached the apartment on the outskirts of West Lafayette after more than 10 negotiation attempts with Borders broke down. Police said Officer Ian O'Shields shot Borders in the hip. Officer O'Shields was placed on paid administrative leave for one week before being reinstated.
Borders said in court on Tuesday that he admits he is guilty of some things, but he is not guilty of confining Edmondson.
Edmondson and several members of Borders' family were in the courtroom. She holds firm that she was not being held against her will.
"He is not guilty of confining me whatsoever," she said. "I'm not the victim in this, he's the victim."
Judge Steve Meyer continued the no-contact order between Edmondson and Borders, because Edmondson will be testifying during the trial.
"It's unfair for him to be facing 16 years in prison for something he didn't do," she said. "We're going to beat this and then we're going to go from there."
Judge Meyer officially withdrew the plea agreement and set the jury trial date for May 12th. It's expected to be a four-day trial. The prosecuting attorneys told the judge they had "a lot of witnesses."
