A San Diego police officer who was convicted of domestic battery involving his then-girlfriend was sentenced Friday to three years of probation.

Seth Tate, 33, was arrested in March of last year and later charged in five separate incidents that allegedly occurred between Tate and the woman, who dated for a few months.

A San Diego jury convicted Tate earlier this year of domestic battery, but also acquitted him of two other battery counts, and hung on two other domestic violence counts.

Tate had been with the San Diego Police Department for nearly three years at the time of his arrest.

Since then, Tate “has been on administrative duties with no contact with the public, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation,” an SDPD spokesperson said Friday.

A San Diego police officer is on trial for alleged domestic violence against his now former girlfriend. NBC 7’s Allison Ash was at the courthouse with the details. 

“Now that the criminal case has concluded, the department will move forward with its administrative process regarding Tate’s employment,” their statement continued.

At trial, Deputy District Attorney Carlos Campbell described Tate as “jealous,” “volatile” and “erratic” throughout their brief relationship. The prosecutor 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.

Tate’s defense attorney, Sean Jones, said most of the alleged incidents lacked corroborating witnesses, argued both his client and his ex-girlfriend were frequently physical with one another, and said often Tate was restraining the woman to prevent her from physically attacking him.

A police officer was arrested last week on felony domestic violence charges at a luxury apartment complex, police say, NBC 7’s Alexis Rivas reports.

But Campbell alleged the woman was “not the first person he had been physically violent with.”

He said Tate pushed his one-time fiancee 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 immediately call their engagement off and contact police.

Both Tate’s ex-girlfriend and ex-fiancee testified in the trial, and San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber said their accounts of Tate’s behavior were “virtually identical in the details of the jealousy, the emotional and the physical abuse,” despite both women being strangers to each other.

Weber said she wouldn’t impose custody because the victim didn’t sustain serious physical injuries. Tate’s probation terms include 100 hours of volunteer work service and completion of a year-long domestic violence program.

The first American bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV was installed on Thursday as the leader of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego.

Across San Diego, a lot of attention was focused at St. Therese of Carmel Parish for a day of ceremony and sanctity. There was a procession of 200 cardinals, bishops and priests, and more than 1,200 people attended the installation Mass for Bishop Michael Pham.

Pham is the seventh bishop of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego and the first Vietnamese American to lead a U.S. diocese.

“It’s such an honor and comes with great responsibility,” Pham said.

He values bringing various ethnicities and different Catholic groups together, and prides himself on being a man of all people for all voices.

“It’s important to recognize the people from the peripheries, the vulnerable, the refugees, the immigrants,” Pham said. “Many of these people are voiceless, and we need to be that voice for the people.”

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Michael Pham, previously auxiliary bishop of San Diego and diocesan administrator, as the Bishop of San Diego.

Dr. Michael Lovette-Colyer, vice president of mission integration at the University of San Diego, said one reason Pham’s installation was significant is because he’s a local.

“Previous pope would look for sort of an outsider to come in and provide fresh perspective or to have a new set of eyes, but it seems that Pope Leo has a different approach, which is to elevate people who are already intimately connected to the area,” Lovette-Colyer said.

Those who attended Thursday’s installation Mass shared words of excitement and hope, as well as wanting people to know that Pham is an expert communicator and listener.

“You could stop him on the way if he’s running to somewhere, and if you needed his attention, he would stop and talk to you, and that’s what a true shepherd should be,” Mass attendee Dibiana Jones said.

“I think he’s able to talk to anybody, Black, white, Hispanic, Vietnamese,” said Father Evan Bui of St. Thomas More. “He can walk with people in that sense. That’s the beauty of Bishop Pham. He can connect with you heart to heart.”

Pham replaces Cardinal Robert McElroy, who is now the archbishop of Washington, D.C.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — Several days after a small plane disappeared hundreds of miles off the San Diego coastline, friends and colleagues are paying tribute to the researcher who was piloting the aircraft.

“I would call him my best friend. I’m numb, completely numb,” said David Gvalia, a friend and former colleague of pilot Tsotne Javakhishvili.

The single-engine Cessna TTX took off from Ramona on Sunday afternoon. After being cleared to approach Montgomery-Gibbs Airport, the pilot stopped responding to the tower.

The aircraft traveled southwest of San Diego for approximately 500 miles before it disappeared from radar. Search crews reportedly combed the area for some 24 hours before the search was called off.

“It’s devastating. I still can’t believe it,” Gvalia said.

Aviation experts believe the plane was likely on autopilot after the pilot became incapacitated. It’s believed the pilot was the only one on board.

Scripps Research CEO Peter Schultz, who owns the plane, confirmed the pilot was a friend and experienced aviator.

In a Facebook post, a university in the country of Georgia, the University of Georgia, confirmed the pilot was 67-year-old Javakhishvili, Director of the Institute of Synthetic Biology. He had lived and worked in the San Diego area since the 1990s. Javakhishvili previously worked at the Scripps Research Institute and collaborated with Schultz on genetic research projects.

“Everybody loved him. Everybody respected him. He was larger than life, extremely smart and extremely kind,” Gvalia said.

Friends say Javakhishvili often spoke about his love of the ocean and flying, which was his passion. Photos show a smiling Javakhishvili sharing that passion, flying with his friends. He was always willing to take friends out on flights.

“His exit from his life is poetic for numerous reasons because, as hard as it is for me to accept it, he died doing the thing he loved doing,” Gvalia said.

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