Guillermo Burrowes was convicted of simple battery in connection with an incident involving his former girlfriend of two and a half years. The trial court sentenced him to 12 months, to serve 20 days in confinement and the remainder on probation. Guillermo appeals the denial of his amended motion for new trial, arguing that the trial court erred by: 1 denying his request for a continuance; 2 refusing to give his requested charge on justification; 3 granting the state’s motion in limine to exclude evidence of the victim’s infidelity; 4 refusing to allow the victim’s written statements to go out with the jury during their deliberations; and 5 denying his motion for a directed verdict because the accusation did not allege the specific act constituting simple battery. We affirm. Viewed in support of the verdict, the evidence shows that on February 21, 2006, Burrowes went to the home of Tamela Hysten, his former girlfriend, to look for some tax forms. When Burrowes arrived, Hysten was taking a bath in the master bathroom and talking to a male caller on the phone. According to Hysten, after she hung up the phone and got out of the tub, Burrowes followed her into the master bedroom and proceeded to hit her in the head, knocking her to the ground. Burrowes then jumped on Hysten and started choking her. Hysten called for her children, then eleven and sixteen, and they came into the bedroom and pulled Burrowes off of her. Burrowes then locked the children out of the room and again hit Hysten in the head, knocking her down. The children kicked the bedroom door down and subdued Burrowes while Hysten grabbed a machete she kept in the bedroom. After Burrowes snatched the machete from her hands, Hysten fled naked down the stairs, grabbed a towel from the laundry room, and ran outside, wrapped only in the towel. Burrowes chased Hysten back into the house and spit on her several times. At some point, Hysten was able to grab her car keys and run back outside, where she locked herself in her car and called 911.
Hysten’s children testified that they did not see Burrowes hit their mother, but that they observed him pinning her to the floor. They explained that they pulled Burrowes off of Hysten twice and that the eldest child broke down the bedroom door in order to help Hysten. Both children testified that Burrowes cut his hand on the machete when he tried to take it out of Hysten’s hand, and the eleven-year-old son testified that he saw Burrowes spit in his mother’s face.
