SDPD officer sentenced to probation after conviction for battering then-girlfriend

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.