Friday, February 27, 2009

The Big REVEAL

OK so here is the story:
So Husband comes home late one night (Oct 8th, if you must know)drunk off his ass. The door is double locked, so Wife had to get out of bed, hope the three kids don't wake up, and open the door that Husband could not unlock. An argument ensued. Wife went back to bed. Husband dragged Wife out of bed by the legs. She hit the ground and maybe hit her head. At this point there was some punching and kicking on both parties parts. Then Husband shook Wife and then Wife said I'm calling the cops. She did. And hung up mid-call. Did she drop the phone or did husband rip it out of her hand and throw it back into the bedroom or at Wife? Only Zeus knows. The cops show up. Wife is crying, Husband is taken into custody. There are no injuries documented, and arresting officers took no pictures. The next day, Wife goes down to the police station and tearfully gives her statement which is basically the same as above.

Cut to: Feb 26 in court....
The only evidence we are given are the testimony of Wife and Detective, the one she spoke to the morning after the incident. The opening statements promised drama and suspense. Violence and roller-coaster emotions. What we got was a bunch of bullshit. Wife got on the stand and denied everything. According to her there was an argument about something she can't remember but otherwise absolutely nothing happened. She called the cops as a threat and then dropped the phone accidentally. Fantastic. Typical victim stuff, and for good reason. Protecting the guy who pays the bills and the father of her children makes sense. The Detective basically reported the statement that Wife made that morning. He handed it in, looking at the incident report, but not actually speaking to the arresting officers about the arrest. According to Detective, she was very upset and cried by the end of the story.

THE END

That's all we got. No other witnesses, not even the arresting officers. We were sent to deliberate with JUST THAT. Several jury members commented on the lack of awesome that was the prosecutor. I was elected foreman. Because I'm like that. When we all sat down at the table, there was one guilty, three undecided, and eight not guilty. The undecideds were the first to go down, me being one. Basically, there simply wasn't enough evidence to convict. And Wife obviously lied, whether it be to us or to the cops, so her testimony was useless. And if her testimony was useless, then even her statement to the Detective needed to be thrown out. Which left us with ZERO evidence of any kind. And you have to presume innocence, right?

So then there was just Maxine (aka Mrs. Sonnenbergersteinson, and the one I thought I would totally agree with.) When we realized she was the last one standing she and I started referring to her as Henry Fonda. Maxine. OOOOhhhh, Maxine. In her seventies and an attorney of intellectual property, she was not going to go down with out a fight. So suddenly it was my job to get her to go along with the rest of us. And her point was valid: we all could assume that Husband had some inappropriate contact with Wife and he should pay for it. And as the daughter of a DV advocate, put the perp AWAY is the rule. The best part was when I asked her, "Henry Fonda, what would you need to say 'not guilty'?" The ATTORNEY at the table, Miss Maxine, needed to be reminded about burden of proof. She gave in. She admitted there was not enough evidence. I wrote out the verdict.

I think we were all extremely disappointed. In that room, there were more than 5 people whose life had been touched by domestic violence. You find out way too much during jury selection. We had two victims of violence, and one of the guys wife had been in an abusive relationship for years, and one girl spoke about her father in a way that would make your blood run cold. This shit is an epidemic. Where are we leaving this family? Nowhere. We couldn't stand up for a wife who couldn't stand up for herself. And there was no one at that police station the morning after the incident who could talk about counseling or victim's rights or any number of other programs or city, hell, state and country offer to help women who are in just this pickle? Have we sent her back to a home filled with threats and violence, a place where it has now been proven that calling the cops is the WORST option? I hope not. The system failed here. The prosecutor needed to go back to law school and learn how to run this kind of case, because there are hundreds of these things. And law enforcement, I understand you are underpaid and overused, but isn't there a way to make sure that this sort of thing is dealt with in a way that promises a little bit more safety and security than just throwing Husband in the drunk tank for the night? And a better answer than an uncaring justice system that does nothing to care for the health and well-being of the entire household? I know this rant is idealistic and very possibly naive. I don't live in east LA, I am not Hispanic and I am not raising three children on my husbands meager wages. I am not callused to these kind of cases in the same way that the system I saw at work is, but I would bet there is a better way than what I was a part of today.

/rant

Anywho. I went to get a gin and tonic. I'm sure I'm leaving all the good stuff out, but I'm all out of writer-ness. I'll see if I can't leave more bonmots at a later time, but for now, it's timw for Formosa.

4 comments:

Jean said...

Agreed, the legal system is a puzzlement, and witnessing it 1st hand is a sure way to lead you to not believe in its effectiveness, on any level. It's just way too impersonal and humongous to do anything but the minimal, and people's lives too complicated to explain their actions logically, IMHO.
Makes for great reading, however.

Anonymous said...

I will leave a more coherent comment when I cool down. Your experience was the norm, in my experience, but doesn't have to be. I will go into more detail when my blood pressure lowers to more normal levels. BTW, what do you think the children in this case are learning?
Suz

Big Tall Okie said...

Thanks for sharing this story. It's gross, but I don't think there's anything wrong with you being idealistic and upset. If we just accept that there is nothing we can do about this, then indeed we fail. If even ONE abusive asshole gets even slightly scared of retribution through incarceration (I'm keeping that phrase for my next album), then the system (kind of) works.

Anonymous said...

Wow. I reiterate what the hubby said so well above. And I would like to add that your quest for a Formosa gin and tonic at the end nearly made me gnaw my own arm off in naked, burning longing. Oh, how I miss Formosa-ing with you cool kids. :)