The 37-year-old daughter of Inglewood Mayor James Butts Jr. was convicted on Monday of assault and conspiracy charges. The allegations stem from her involvement in orchestrating an attack on her landlord in South Los Angeles over seven years ago.
Ashley Melissa Butts, ordered to be taken into custody by Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo, was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs following the verdict. The downtown Los Angeles jury deliberated for approximately three hours before finding Butts guilty of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury and conspiracy to commit assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
The conspiracy charge alleges that Butts directed her co-defendant, Israel Rios, to attack her landlord in exchange for money. She also is accused of unlocking the door to her home to allow Rios and another unidentified individual, known only as John Doe, to enter. The attack resulted in the landlord sustaining head lacerations and contusions from a metal object, along with the discharge of a firearm. Rios, awaiting trial, faces charges of assault and conspiracy.
Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams presented a strong case against Butts, highlighting the “overwhelming amount of evidence” during her closing argument.
The prosecutor emphasized that Butts had lied to both police detectives and the jury when she testified in her defense. Williams pointed out that Butts, a law school graduate, had fabricated a series of events in her testimony.
Butts had been involved in disputes with her landlord shortly after moving into his residence on West 78th Street, near Crenshaw Boulevard. The District Attorney’s Office stated that she arranged for two men to be picked up by a ride-hailing driver and brought to the property for the purpose of assaulting the victim.
In his closing argument, Butts’ attorney, Joseph Weimortz, raised doubts about the motive behind the attack. He questioned how Butts would benefit from an anonymous assault and argued that she had immediately called 911 for assistance after the incident. Weimortz disputed the characterization of his client as a “tenant from hell.”
This was the second trial for Butts, as the first jury was unable to reach a verdict in March 2022.
Prior to the trial, Butts had initially pleaded guilty to assault and conspiracy charges as part of a plea deal. The agreement involved a one-year county jail term and a suspended four-year state prison term. However, she later withdrew her plea and opted for a trial.
Butts is scheduled to be sentenced on August 31 and could potentially face a maximum sentence of five years in state prison.
James Blatt, one of Butts’ attorneys, expressed disappointment with the jury’s decision but respected their verdict. He announced the defense’s intention to file a motion for a new trial and appeal Butts’ conviction.
