Filed Tuesday, July 21, 2026 by Vancouver Defenders
Sedi Caine’s client was quickly acquitted of assault after a trial on June 25, 2026, in Clark County District Court.
Her client, a 76-year-old veteran with no criminal history, was arrested by officers from the Vancouver Police Department in March after his daughter called 911. His daughter, 48, reported that she’d been arguing with her mother while at her parents’ house and her father slapped her in the face.
The jury needed only 20 minutes before they returned a not-guilty verdict. One juror told Caine afterward that the case was ridiculous and wondered why prosecutors even took it to trial.
Caine was assisted at trial by Sophie Swedin.
The daughter did not have any visible injuries from being slapped, and she acknowledged that only her father’s fingers had connected with her face, not the palm of his hand.
The client told officers that he was reacting to his daughter standing up aggressively and moving quickly towards him.
He was arrested and booked into the Clark County Jail. He was charged with assault in the fourth degree domestic violence, a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a loss of firearm rights.
Officers at trial testified that the client was “exceedingly respectful.”
At trial, both the client and his wife testified.
His wife said their daughter had spent the better part of an hour haranguing her, and her grandchildren were so upset by their mom’s behavior one of them was hiding under a table crying and the other was clinging to his mother, asking her to stop. She said after 45 minutes her husband told their daughter, “That’s enough. You need to leave,” and then their daughter came towards her husband while yelling and cursing at him. She said she saw her husband raise his arm and swipe it across his body but that it looked too weak to be a slap.
The client testified that he was recovering from a severe motorcycle accident and when his daughter came towards him he was concerned she was going to knock him over. He said his military training taught him not to let threats approach from the side so without really thinking about it he turned and swiped to create distance between him and his daughter. He said he never intended to hit her.
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