Irvin "Chubby" Martin faced a life sentence for the February 5, 2007 beating of Marie Riley, but has been convicted of lesser charges.
Circuit Court Judge Timothy K. Sanner found Martin guilty of unlawful wounding, arson and two counts of grand larceny on Tuesday, June 24.
Martin now faces up to 55 years incarceration for his crimes stemming from the incident, said Claiborne Stokes, Goochland's Commonwealth Attorney.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 30. The two grand larceny charges carry possible sentences of 20 years each, the arson charge holds 10 years and unlawful wounding carries with it a five-year sentence.
An earlier rape charge emerged, but was dropped prior to the court date due to a lack of evidence, said Stokes.
Prosecution was unable to charge Martin with aggravated malicious wounding, a felony charge that carries a life sentence if convicted, due to the testimony of Martin's fellow Henrico Jail inmate, Cortez Smith.
Smith, who is incarcerated for the armed robbery of the Fork Union Family Dollar in December 2006, testified that Martin told him that he was asleep at Riley's residence on February 5, 2007and awoke to her rummaging through his pants pockets, possibly for money.
"Chubby told [Smith] that he was in the house and saw her taking money and then he snapped," said Stokes.
Smith explained that this was the incident that provoked Martin to beat Riley within an inch of her life.
It emerged throughout the investigation that Riley and Martin had a relationship. Riley testified that the two had played poker and smoked marijuana together in the past.
However, Riley's account of the attack was inconsistent with Smith's. She testified that Martin entered her residence demanding money, and after refusing to produce, she was struck in the back of the head while walking away.
Sanner believed Smith's testimony to be credible. Since Martin may have been provoked, the unlawful wounding charge emerged in lieu of evidence supporting the attack as a random act of violence.
In addition to Smith's testimony, the main evidence supporting the assault were Riley's injuries.
The defense attorney, David Branch, argued that some of Riley's injuries came from a fall after one initial blow, and pushed for the lesser charge of assault and battery. However, Sanner cited the medical evidence of repeated cranial and facial fractures as indicative of repeated blows, not that of a fall, dismissing in the process the assault and battery charge.
"Because of their number and location, the court rejects they resulted from a fall," said Sanner.
The grand larceny and arson convictions stem from Martin's theft and burning of Riley's vehicle. The vehicle was found burnt in an isolated location six days after the incident.