MEDFORD, Ore. (Mar. 20, 2026) — A 28-year-old man has begun serving a combined 10-year prison sentence for domestic violence, vehicle theft and witness tampering convictions, despite being acquitted earlier this month on separate charges stemming from an alleged assault on a jail deputy, according to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.
Javier Manuel Morales was sentenced in 2025 to consecutive prison terms totaling a decade following convictions for felony fourth-degree assault constituting domestic violence, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and two counts of tampering with a witness.
Prosecutors said the charges originated from a domestic violence incident in which Morales assaulted the mother of his children and took her vehicle before officers with the Medford Police Department arrived. He was later located driving the vehicle and taken into custody.
While jailed and awaiting trial, Morales made phone calls to the victim in an effort to persuade her not to cooperate with prosecutors or testify, leading to additional charges of witness tampering. Separate jury trials held in May and June 2025 resulted in guilty verdicts in both cases.
At a May 14, 2025 sentencing hearing, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Laura Cromwell imposed a five-year prison term for the assault and vehicle charges. The judge cited the severity of the conduct and Morales’s criminal history — including a prior conviction involving the same victim — in ordering that the sentence not be reduced or subject to early release.
In a subsequent June 17, 2025 hearing, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Christine Herbert sentenced Morales to an additional five years in prison for the witness tampering convictions. That sentence was ordered to run consecutively, bringing the total prison term to 10 years.
Separately, Morales faced charges related to a May 7, 2025 incident at the Jackson County Jail. Authorities said Morales refused orders to leave a video court booth after a hearing and became combative with a corrections deputy attempting to escort him out.
During the confrontation, Morales and the deputy struggled, and the deputy sustained multiple head injuries, including wounds requiring stitches. The deputy was later hospitalized for a severe infection and continues to have visible facial scarring, according to prosecutors.
Morales was charged with second-degree assault and assaulting a public safety officer in connection with that incident. However, during a March 4, 2026 jury trial, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Pro Tem Paul Moser granted a defense motion for judgment of acquittal after the prosecution presented its case.
In issuing the ruling, Moser said that while evidence showed Morales used aggressive language and assumed a fighting stance, it was insufficient under Oregon law to prove he knowingly engaged in assaultive conduct — a required legal element of the charges.
The acquittal does not affect Morales’s previously imposed prison sentences.
The district attorney’s office credited the Medford Police Department for its investigation and commended the victim for her cooperation throughout the case. Officials also recognized the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the injured corrections deputy for their professionalism and service.
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