A Washington County judge convicted a Hillsboro man on multiple counts of domestic abuse against his girlfriend, including one incident in which he shoved her off a third-story balcony.

Melissa Morgan, 27, suffered a fractured spine and gaping head wound in September after Jordan Adam Sutherland, 27, forced her from their apartment terrace and onto the concrete below, the Washington County District Attorney's Office said.

"Don't hurt me!" the woman screamed just seconds before witnesses watched the near-fatal fall at the hands of Sutherland, prosecutors said.

The impact left Morgan, who has a young child with Sutherland, unconscious and bleeding from her skull, prosecutors said.

Investigators learned the boyfriend also broke Morgan's jaw when he punched her during an unreported incident the month before, said Andrew Freeman, a spokesman for the District Attorney's Office.

Sutherland pleaded not guilty to charges filed in both incidents and requested a bench trial, attorneys in the case said.

During last week's trial in Washington County Circuit Court, attorney Ryan Corbridge argued his client had tried to save his girlfriend, who was intoxicated, from a half-hearted suicide attempt when she fell, the defense lawyer told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Sutherland testified that he had held onto Morgan's hand as she dangled from the balcony ledge, contradicting the accounts of multiple witnesses at the apartment complex, attorneys in the case said.

Morgan did not cooperate with prosecutors or investigators, Freeman said. She also testified at the trial that Sutherland did not push her off the balcony, Corbridge said.

"The victim said he didn't do it. I don't know what more you can have than that," Corbridge said, adding that he had reached out to the Oregon Innocence Project, which reviews wrongful conviction petitions in the state.

"I believe there's still DNA evidence on the outside of the balcony that would be important in acquitting Mr. Sutherland," Corbridge said, without elaborating.

Judge Andy Erwin was less convinced. He convicted Sutherland Feb. 19 on charges of first-degree and fourth-degree assault, the District Attorney's Office said.

Sutherland faces a minimum of 7 1/2 years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 27.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 || @shanedkavanaugh