Man Found Guilty Of Beating Woman In 2004

NEW PORT RICHEY - Joanna Herman had no doubt who beat her Dec. 11, 2004.

It was Lawrence Tener, she said from the witness stand Thursday.

After Herman's testimony, a Pasco County jury needed only 30 minutes to find Tener guilty of aggravated battery. Tener, 25, faces as much as 15 years in prison for the crime, but he won't be sentenced until Dec. 6.

What the jury didn't hear this week is that Tener has yet to face trial on a first-degree murder charge stemming from the unrelated death of Tammy Lee Bowles. Bowles, a 43-year-old mother of four, disappeared in October 2004.

Investigators found her body buried on Tener's property seven days after the attack on Herman. Prosecutors plan to use Tener's conviction to bolster their contention that he deserves the death penalty, if he is found guilty of killing Bowles.

Tener told a Pasco County sheriff's investigator he struck Bowles with an ax handle because she was trying to steal marijuana from him.

The link between the cases is Steven Nicholson, Tener's roommate at the time. Nicholson accused Tener in the beating of Herman and also told investigators Tener had admitted to killing Bowles.

This week, Nicholson testified he and Tener had met Herman outside The Edge Bar in Moon Lake. They all were drunk and decided to head to the mobile home Tener was sharing with Nicholson to continue drinking.

Nicholson testified that Tener seemed agitated and left shortly after they arrived. While he was gone, Nicholson and Herman had sex. Tener returned a half hour later, still agitated and muttering something about Herman stealing from them.

That's when he struck Herman, who was sitting on the couch. Herman testified she got up and tried to protect herself, but Tener continued beating her with an object. Herman, 43, said she was knocked unconscious and came to as Tener's mother was helping her up.

His mother, Tammy Rowe, lived on the property, not far from the mobile home. Herman testified that Rowe drove her home but never called police or paramedics. That happened only after Herman returned to her aunt's house in New Port Richey.

Doctors put nine staples in Herman's head to close a wound. She also suffered a broken nose and crushed hand. Herman, who lives in New York, has recovered but has scars and, she said, residual pain.

Jurors evidently rejected the defense theory that Nicholson beat Herman. Assistant Public Defender Dean Livermore argued that Nicholson named Tener because he thought he would be charged if he didn't.

Livermore also questioned the inability of Herman or Nicholson to be consistent about the weapon used in the beating. Nicholson initially told investigators Tener had used a club, but at trial he said Tener had used brass knuckles. Herman testified she was hit with a wooden object but could not be more specific.

"Does it matter?" Livermore asked in his closing argument. "I suggest it does. It matters because how are you going to believe all this if they can't even get the weapon straight?"

In her closing, Assistant State Attorney Mary Handsel argued that what weapon was used didn't matter.

"Both Herman and Nicholson were interviewed after the incident, and both gave statements," she said. "Both were cross-examined here about anything they might have told someone in the past. Although Mr. Nicholson said in the past it was a bat or a club and now it's brass knuckles, that's about the only inconsistency raised in this case."