David Blount (Photo from Sonoma County Sheriff's Office)
A trial date has been set for a ex-Sonoma Sheriff’s deputy charged with involuntary manslaughter. Proceedings for the trial of 62-year-old Charles Blount will begin on December 10th and attorney’s on both sides expect the trial to take two to three weeks. Blount is charged with killing David Ward in November of 2019 during a traffic stop. During the stop, Blount wrapped his arm around Ward’s neck and bashed his head into the side of his vehicle. Ward was also tazed twice by another deputy before he fell unconscious and stopped breathing, dying at the scene near his Bloomfield home. If convicted, Blount faces up to six years in prison and possible termination of his pension.