A jury in Castle Rock took only an hour to acquit Secret Service Agent Lon Garner of assaulting his wife. It sounds like the jury believed Mrs. Garner made the accusation to get back at him for an affair and that the case belonged in divorce court, not criminal court.

While Garner's defense conceded there had been a physical confrontation between he and his wife Jan. 4, 2006, they pointed to Christine Garner's threats to ruin her husband's life over the marital affair that prompted the fight months earlier.

Garner did not testify at the trial. His son, however, did:

The couple's son said he saw his father choking his mother. But Garner's lawyer said he was just trying to calm his wife down and that she had tried to hit him several times.

Mrs. Garner waited 11 months to report the assault. Her version:

She says her husband had threatened to eliminate anyone who tried to hurt his career when they least expected it.

Agent Garner's version:

The officer who arrested Garner said he denied attacking her and said his wife had threatened "You ruined my life and I'm going to ruin yours" before going to authorities in November.

Mrs. Garner had her own troubles. Three months before she filed the charges,

...she was arrested for allegedly stalking her husband's girlfriend. According to court records, Christine Garner was arrested Aug. 21, 2006, after she called the woman she believed was having an affair with her husband and said she would "ruin and destroy" her.

Agent Garner has been on administrative leave since the charges.