Defendant Strangled, Assaulted Victim

Convicted of Domestic Battery

A 35-year-old Reno man has been convicted of Domestic Battery by Strangulation, Domestic Battery with a Prior Felony Domestic Battery Conviction, and False Imprisonment. Lamar Gosey (dob 4/23/88) was arrested in February of 2022, after Reno Police were called to a domestic disturbance.

In an interview with police, the victim said that she and the defendant had gotten into an argument while she was doing laundry at their home. During the disagreement, Gosey repeatedly slapped the victim across the face, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against a wall while also taunting her to “defend herself.”  During the assault, the victim began to lose consciousness and suffered a tear to her ear. She was eventually able to escape to a neighbor’s home, where she called the police. Gosey’s criminal history includes two prior felony convictions for Domestic Battery in California.

Bail for Gosey was initially set by the Reno Justice Court. After he posted bail, the defendant violated the conditions of his pretrial release. The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office requested that his bail be revoked, but the Reno Justice Court placed him on voluntary residential confinement instead. Gosey then failed to appear at his Preliminary Hearing, so the WCDA took the case to a grand jury at District Court, where he was indicted, and bail was almost tripled. The defendant was found to have fled to Oklahoma and was extradited back to Washoe County.

During the trial, the victim described for the jury how the defendant terrorized her for almost two hours, until she escaped to her neighbor’s home where she called 911.

The Honorable Judge Kathleen Drakulich presided over the trial, and sentencing is set for March 28, 2024. Gosey faces up to 15 years in prison for committing domestic battery with a prior felony conviction for domestic violence, 5 years in prison for committing domestic battery with strangulation, and one year in jail for false imprisonment.