Man denies girlfriend phone assault

INDEPENDENCE, Mo., July 27 (UPI) -- A man accused of shoving a cellular phone down his ex-girlfriend's throat has told an Independence, Mo., court that the woman swallowed the phone herself.

However, the doctor who removed the phone from the throat of Melinda Abell, former girlfriend of Marlon Brando Gill, said the injuries suffered by Abell required a great deal of force, The Kansas City (Mo.) Star reported Thursday.

"There was a lot of force to get the phone to where I found it," said Dr. Kelvin Walls.

Walls said Abell could have died from the injuries if he and other doctors had not cut open her airway.

Gill, who took the stand after Walls testified on Wednesday, denied the prosecution's allegations that he forced the phone into Abell's mouth. He said he had been attempting to use her phone to make a call when she took it from him and attempted to swallow it to keep it away from him.

Abell, who claims to have no memory of the phone incident, told the court Tuesday that that Gill had repeatedly acted controlling and abusive towards her.