A San Diego police officer was convicted this week of domestic battery involving his ex-girlfriend, though jurors either acquitted him or were unable to reach verdicts on four other domestic violence counts related to the same woman.
Seth Tate, 33, was arrested in March 2024 and later charged in five separate incidents that allegedly occurred between Tate and the woman, who dated for a few months. Tate had been with the San Diego Police Department for nearly three years at the time of his arrest.
While Tate was found guilty Tuesday of the sole domestic battery count, a San Diego Superior Court jury acquitted him of two other battery counts. The jury also hung on two other domestic violence counts, and it was uncertain whether he might be retried on those counts at a later time.
Deputy District Attorney Carlos Campbell, who described Tate as “jealous,” “volatile,” and “erratic” throughout the brief relationship, told jurors that Tate kicked the woman on one occasion and on others forcefully grabbed her by the arms, leaving bruises.
He also described another incident in which she and Tate were in an Uber and he allegedly grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into one of the car’s windows.
The ex-girlfriend was the first witness to testify, telling jurors, “His mood seemed to shift on a dime” and that he was frequently jealous when she was around other men.
Though she recognized his behavior was problematic, she said, “I excused it because he was a cop. He’s a good guy.”
Campbell also said the woman was “not the first person he had been physically violent with.”
He said Tate pushed his fiancée while she was on a staircase, but the woman was able to catch herself before tumbling down the stairs. The prosecutor said that prompted the woman to call off their engagement and police.
But Tate’s defense attorney, Sean Jones, argued that, unlike the typical protocol for domestic violence investigations, San Diego police did not question Tate to get his side of the story before arresting him.
When the allegations from Tate’s fiancée surfaced, that incident did not result in prosecution because those investigators questioned Tate, as well as his acc, according to the attorney.
Jones urged jurors to look at both sides and take into that most of the allegations lacked corroborating witnesses.
The defense attorney said the only incident in which others were present was the Uber incident, as a group of the couple’s friends were also in the vehicle. But Jones said none of the other people could back up the woman’s allegations when questioned by investigators.
The attorney said that during many of the alleged incidents, both his client and his ex-girlfriend were physical with one another, and often Tate was restraining the woman to prevent her from physically attacking him.
Tate remains out of custody following this week’s verdict.
