A Sumter County jury has rendered a decision in a criminal case involving feuding neighbors in The Villages.
Village of Sanibel resident Gerald Wilbur Lawson, 80, had been charged with aggravated battery of his neighbor, 75-year-old Leanna Hood, which she alleged occurred on Oct. 13, 2020. Lawson lives at 566 Bradford Loop and Hood lives at 562 Bradford Loop.
The feud began seven years ago when the next door neighbor accused Lawson of lodging a deed compliance complaint regarding her landscaping, an allegation that Lawson denied at the time it was made seven years ago and at the trial. During the trial, both Hood and Lawson told the jury that they and their spouses had been friends for the first two years that they lived next to each other. The couples were so close that they each had keys to the others’ house and would watch over the homes of the other when they were out of town.
Once the feud began, Hood called the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office seven times alleging Lawson had done something that she felt was illegal, but deputies found the allegations had no merit.
However, the deputy who responded to Hood’s 2020 call claiming she had been battered was shown a video in which Lawson was mowing his lawn while she was watering some sod. The video showed the handle of Lawson’s self-propelled lawnmower make slight contact with the woman’s right buttock which was clearly on his property as he was mowing.
Hood was cross examined by Lawson’s attorney, Mark Conan. She testified that she had installed 20 video security cameras and that 10 were aimed at Lawson’s home. She also had gotten permission to install a metal “valley” very close to the property line between their houses. This valley was clearly shown on the security video. This was the only such valley allowed in The Villages, according to the testimony. One of the videos showed Hood pulling into her driveway while Lawson could be seen mowing his lawn. She claimed she did not see or hear Lawson mowing when she grabbed her hose and stood on a water meter box which was partially on Lawson’s property.
She testified that before calling the sheriff’s office, she continued to water the sod.
When Lawson took the stand he leaned on a walking stick, as he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and has balance issues.
Lawson testified that he was mowing the lawn with a self-propelled mower and had to move the mower around a palm tree which was at an angle. He said he did not feel or see the mower make contact with Hood’s butt, but would never have done so intentionally given their history.
After the jury retired to deliberate, about a dozen of Lawson’s neighbors waited with with him in the courtroom. Attorney Conan appeared confident and predicted that the jury would render a decision in 30 minutes – and 29 minutes later the jury came back with a verdict of not guilty.
Lawson was pleased with the verdict, but admitted it’s been a difficult time for him.
“It’s been a rough seven years,” he said.