photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Miles Adams appears Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Douglas County District Court with his attorney, Gary West.

A Lawrence man who severely beat his roommate, causing facial fractures, was sentenced to three years of probation Thursday in Douglas County District Court.

Judge Amy Hanley handed down the sentence for aggravated battery to Miles Adams, 46, after the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, represented by Assistant DA Jenna Phelps, joined defense attorney Gary West in recommending that Adams not go to prison, which he had presumptively faced under state law. Their recommendation was agreed upon in return for Adams’ no contest plea on Oct. 30 to the felony.

Hanley could have sentenced Adams to prison, but she opted to depart to probation after hearing from the parties. She noted that the prosecution and the victim, who spoke at the hearing, sought different outcomes. The victim wanted Adams to get the maximum possible sentence, 38 months in prison. The victim read a lengthy statement to the court describing how Adams had drunkenly attacked him outside of their Kentucky Street residence on Sept. 1, punching him several times in the face and causing him to fall into a porch pillar and to lose consciousness, during which the punching continued, he said. The attack resulted in fractures to his orbital sockets, cheekbones and other areas of his face, compromising his vision and hearing.

Two other people who lived at the home and witnessed the incident also asked the court for the maximum penalty. Their statements, read into the record by Phelps, described the attack as unprovoked, violent and “animalistic,” and they said that it had created lasting trauma.

Adams himself told the court that he had acted out of “toxic masculinity,” which he said embarrassed him. He noted that he had lost his housing situation and his job as a result of his behavior. He has been in jail more than 100 days, and has regained his sobriety, he said.

Hanley noted that Adams has 11 misdemeanors in his criminal history, including for theft, disorderly conduct, DUI and marijuana possession, but she said none of those offenses had involved violence.

“This offense is most certainly violent,” she said of the aggravated battery, but she noted the significant role that alcohol had played in it.

She found that appropriate alcohol and mental health treatment was available and that the community and Adams’ rehabilitation would likely be best served by a nonprison sanction. Adams’ three years of probation has a suspended underlying prison sentence of three years, which Hanley warned he would serve every day of if he is found to have violated his probation.

Adams is facing a series of charges in Neosho County, where he said he would be living with his family, including felony flee and elude and felony interference with a law enforcement officer in addition to several misdemeanors related to operating a motor vehicle.