• Former student Jessica Cody was found guilty Friday for stabbing two college students in a Water Street bar last September
• Cody was convicted of two counts of recklessly endangering safety
• The penalty carries a maximum of 10 years served for each count, totaling 20 years, half of which would be spent in incarceration
• Cody's sentencing was set for May 8 at 1:30 p.m.

On Friday afternoon, a jury found former Marquette student Jessica Cody guilty of stabbing two college students with a pocketknife in a Water Street bar on Sept. 13, 2008.

Cody was convicted of two counts of second degree recklessly endangering safety for stabbing Katlynn Dallmann, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Janel Higgs, a junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The incident happened after a verbal altercation ensued between the then-underaged females at Sullivan's, 1225 N. Water St.

Dallmann was cut in the arm and near the left eye, receiving 19 stitches in her arm, eight above her eye and 16 below her eye. Higgs was cut near the neck and had to undergo immediate surgery to reattach a muscle.

Wisconsin state statutes define second degree recklessly endangering safety as a person endangering the safety of another and doing so with criminally reckless conduct, risking death or great bodily harm unreasonably and substantially. The maximum penalty is 10 years for each count, totaling 20 years, half of which would be spent in jail.

The jury trial began last Monday afternoon. After selecting a jury, the state's presentation began Tuesday.

Assistant District Attorney James Griffin called six witnesses to the stand and used several photo exhibits for evidence. Griffin's witnesses included the Milwaukee police officer that detained Cody, the two victims, a Sullivan's door manager and two other witnesses at the scene.

Dallmann and Higgs told their sides of the story. Higgs' account was a video testimony taped in January because she is currently studying abroad in Italy, and was unable to make it back for the trial.

Neal Steffek, a former Sullivan's door manager, testified that he and another bar's bouncer found Cody on the sidewalk shortly after the altercation and held her until police arrived. Steffek said Cody admitted guilt using explicit language.

Cody's defense attorney Michael John Hicks requested a motion to dismiss the case when Griffin finished the state's presentation. But Judge Dennis R. Cimpl, presiding over the case, denied the motion.

Hicks then began his presentation and brought eight witnesses to the stand, which included investigating detectives, a bouncer at Brothers Bar & Grill, a neighboring bar at 1213 N. Water St., and three male Marquette students.

One student called to the stand was Remington Tonar, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. Tonar testified his recollection of the incident and said that he went to the bar with Cody that night.

Tonar's testimony was brought up several times throughout the case because he said when he asked Cody about the initial verbal altercation, she told him she said to the girls, "Have you ever had your throat slit?" which Cody later admitted saying.

He said he had known Cody since August and he considered her an acquaintance.

In an interview after the trial, Tonar said he wrote down everything he could remember about the incident the night after it occurred. He said Cody later let him know that her attorney would contact him for a statement and to appear in court.

He said he was not surprised by the guilty verdict and that the sentencing should be interesting.

Then Cody waived her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and took the witness stand to testify.

According to her testimony, the night began as a normal weekend night with beer pong at a friend's apartment. She and a small group of friends took a taxi to Sullivan's, where she happened to run into a friend, a fellow male Marquette student.

Cody said she approached the friend to calm him down when she saw him about to get into a fight with another group of men. She said the two victims were upset with her being near the student and told her to leave.

She then said the three of them started yelling and shoving each other, and that the two girls started punching her, which was when she pulled out the 2- to 3-inch pocketknife and started waving it in front of her, all while the male student was attempting to keep the girls separated. Cody said she did not know that she cut the girls until the detective told her when she was arrested.

Cody's recorded interview with the investigating detective showed that she lied by telling him that she used a piece of glass, not a knife. She said she lied to the detective because she was scared.

During her testimony, Cody said she felt foolish that the argument was over a boy.

The pocketknife was never found.

But Dallmann and Higgs' testimonies described occurrences different from Cody's. Each described Cody as the aggressor.

Dallmann said she later approached Cody to try to apologize for a misunderstanding that sparked the initial verbal altercation. She said she and Cody then started yelling and becoming physical with each other when Higgs stepped in, trying to break up the fight.

She said she first thought she was punched and did not know she had been cut with a knife.

Higgs said she tried to push Dallmann out of the way and did not see her get hurt.

After all the testimonies, the attorneys argued about specific charges. Hicks made another motion to dismiss after the closing arguments, which Cimpl also denied.

Griffin's closing argument highlighted Cody's inconsistencies between her testimony and what she told the investigating detective. He said that the motions she claimed to have made with the knife could not have possibly caused the victims' injuries.

Hicks then made his closing argument and said that the cuts did not constitute serious bodily injury. He highlighted inconsistencies between testimonies and argued that evidence was not strong enough to prove guilt. He also argued for self-defense.

But the jury did not buy it. The jury reached a verdict after about four hours of deliberation on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

The state fought for its original charges of first degree recklessly endangering safety, which means the defendant's conduct also showed utter disregard for human life. But the jury knocked it down to second degree.

Cody's sentencing is set for May 8 at 1:30 p.m.

"I feel good," Dallmann said. "I'm happy with the outcome."

Dallmann said she felt nervous throughout the entire trial because at times the jury looked like it could have swayed either way. She said she was especially nervous on the stand because everything happened so fast the night of the incident that it was hard being grilled and asked to remember absolutely everything.

She said she was surprised that the case went all the way to a jury trial but that she feels relieved it's basically over. She said she was happy to have Griffin as her lawyer and that she wanted to stand up and clap after his closing argument.

"Me and Janel have to live with something for the rest of our lives," Dallmann said. "And with having two felonies on (Cody's) record she can kind of feel what it's like."