Perrys take plea, avoids trial in aggravated battery case

PANAMA CITY — Rather than face a jury on Monday, former Air Force captain John Perrys took a plea deal on Saturday.

Perrys, 33, has been in jail since April 2005, when he was charged with armed burglary of a dwelling, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor criminal mischief.

State’s Attorney Glenn Hess has said the prosecution thought it had “an extremely strong case” against Perrys, who was accused of forcing his way into Gulf County Judge Fred Witten’s home and attacking Witten’s stepdaughter, Caroline Lister, with a metal baton.

Perrys pleaded no contest to those charges Saturday, but accepted a 10-year prison sentence, with credit for the nearly five years he already has served. He’ll be on probation for 30 years after his release, but will be able to petition for early termination of his probation after 10 years.

He will have to get mental health counseling, pay a $25,000 fine, as well as attorney fees, and he won’t be allowed within Bay or Gulf counties while he’s on probation.

Perrys also has to surrender all photographs and videos of Lister, and is prohibited from communicating with her or her family.

Lister, now married with children, is Perrys’ former girlfriend. She has said a masked man began beating her with a club the morning of April 12 after she stepped out of the shower.

Perrys’ trial has been delayed twice in the half-decade he has been in jail; once, because an impartial Gulf County jury could not be found. The case was subsequently moved to Bay County.

After Perrys was sent to the Bay County Jail, his attorney declared Perrys mentally unfit to stand trial, which forced a continuance while Perrys was evaluated.