Appeals court upholds conviction in transgender assault

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A state appeals court has upheld the conviction of a North Carolina man charged with maiming the genitals of a transgender woman.

In a ruling issued last week, the Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Melvin Lamar Fields of Durham for assault inflicting seriously bodily injury. The court vacated his conviction for habitual misdemeanor assault.

Fields was indicted in 2017 on charges including attempted malicious castration or maiming of a privy member, for which he was acquitted.

Authorities say Fields attacked and tore the scrotum of the victim in November 2015. According to court records, the victim required 15 stitches and was left with a long, jagged scar.