Meghan Markle's future sister-in-law could face jail after physically assaulting the Duchess's half-brother
Meghan Markle's sister-in-law, Darlene Blount was arrested on Friday (July 20) and after appearing in the court on Monday (July 23) she has been charged with two counts of assault. She was arrested after getting involved in an argument with Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr. In the court documents that have been obtained by The Sun, the arresting officer notes, “(Darlene Blount) punched her boyfriend, Thomas Markle, in the face causing a physical injury to his right eye." cops were called to their house n Grants Pass, Oregon at 2.54am on Friday and Darlene was arrested at 3.10am. The document further notes the two charges that are put on her.
"The defendant, on or about July 19, 2018, in Josephine County, Oregon, did unlawfully and knowingly cause physical injury to Thomas Markle," read the court document. “The state further alleges the foregoing crime constitutes domestic violence.” Darlene spent the night in the jail after the arrest before she was released on bail. According to the court documents, Darlene paid her own bail money of $1,000 (£750).
During this time she also agreed to appear at Josephine County Circuit Court on Monday. After appearing she entered a no plea deal. She was released on the condition that she does not contact Thomas “in any manner” and does not go to their home. A spokesman for Josephine County's District Attorney's further shed light on Darlene's charges.
“Darlene Blount was charged with two counts of assault - to cause physical injury to another person," said the spokesperson. The maximum sentence for 'Assault in the Fourth Degree’, which is also what Darlene is charged with is one year in jail and a £4,700 fine. Darlene and Thomas Markle Jr have been having plenty of relationship problems off late. Previously on New Year's day, cops were called to Thomas Jr's residence when Darlene told the 911 operator that he was being 'really f***ing weird' and was beating himself up," as reported by Daily Mail.
She claimed that Thomas was drunk and jealous as he thought she was 'f*** some dude' that she knew when out at a local bar. In the call, Darlene suggested that she was "scared" of her boyfriend because he was a "big guy" and could hurt her. At the same time, she stated that she feared he was mentally ill. However, when the police arrived at their place, they did not believe that Thomas Jr could have hurt himself. Instead, they arrested Darlene for assault.
She was locked up in the Josephine County Jail for two nights and was released after the District Attorney decided not to press charges. The couple later stated that they were seeking relationship and alcohol counseling in order to work on their relationship. Meanwhile, prior to this, in January 2016, Thomas Jr was arrested for allegedly holding a gun to Darlene's head in yet another incident which involved alcohol.