The focus of a report from The Republic in Arizona is this pattern and the commonalities between domestic violence cases, and what sets those deadly cases apart from the rest.
Experts say there are risk factors, that when present indicate a higher likelihood of the relationship turning deadly. Those risk factors include things like:
These factors so often raise the risk level of homicide in a domestic violence relationship, that shelter workers ask victims if any of them are present when doing an intake interview, all to establish how in danger of attack the victim is.
The more controlling and jealous an abuser is, the more likely the relationship will turn deadly as well. Abusers often maintain control over their victim’s social lives, their contact with friends, and even their contact with family. They can be insanely jealous and set off by any evidence that they are “losing control” of their victim.
What begins with a slap and occasional berating, can escalate over time, until the abuser is doling out violence and emotional abuse on a regular basis. Threats become more common and the abuser often starts threatening to kill the victim.
The report notes that about 100 people are killed in domestic violence situations in the state of Arizona. But thousands more are involved in abusive relationships, and the patterns are clear. The vast majority of these never turn deadly, though they may escalate in severity over the years.
Much attention is given to the victims of domestic violence, on getting them out of the situation and protecting them, and rightfully so. This should be the first concern for law enforcement and community officials. But treating the aggressor should also be important.
Abusers don’t usually like being abusive. They struggle with guilt and a severely damaged self-esteem. For them, breaking the cycle of violence doesn’t often happen until someone else (like the police) steps in and forces it.
If you are accused of a domestic violence offense, this could be your opportunity to get help. Courts can order anger management classes and counseling for people accused of such crimes.
]]>The video is worth watching to see how absurdly earnest this reporter talks about the need for victims advocates in assault cases after this experience now that she knows “just what it is like” to be a crime victim.
It is certainly possible that this minor jostling could technically be considered an assault charge under the law. In South Carolina, the law states that any attempt to injure a person is a simple assault. That is probably a significant stretch.
No doubt this reporter was momentarily startled by this man’s fairly idiotic behavior. But it is an insult to real victims of traumatic assaults for this reporter to put herself in this category.
As this case shows, assault prosecutions can be extremely selective and capricious. If the victim is a prominent person or complains loudly, and the police happen to be nearby, sometimes an arrest is made and a person is prosecuted is cases like this that are objectively silly.
Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, and this case will be dropped, or the charges reduced to something more trivial and appropriate for what actually happened. But if the victim and the prosecution insist on going forward, it may take a good lawyer and a reasonable judge to get this charge reduced.
But it is not hard to imagine this charge sticking. We will see if this reporter wants to continue seeing herself as a crime victim.
]]>According to the report, a 60 year-old woman was charged with Domestic Battery in Illinois for pelting her husband with cupcakes. The police said she admitted the act after the police observed her husband smeared with cupcake frosting. There was obviously a lot of history here, as the husband had 3 previous arrest reports for domestic battery on his wife.
As silly as this sounds, assault charges, particularly domestic assault offenses can often be this harmless sounding. Most defense lawyers who handle assault charges have similar stories of the police arresting people for assault in situations where common sense tells you no harm was done. After all, how threatening is a cupcake?
But if there police are called, and there is any kind of disruptive incident, noise, or scuffle, the police will often just arrest someone to separate the participants and diffuse the situation on the spot. They are content to let the courts sort out these types of non-issues.
But once a case is in the system, it isn’t always easy to clear it out and get it dismissed. Particularly in domestic cases. Prosecutors don’t want to drop charges, even for a seemingly minor or trivial incident like this, for fear of a serious follow up incident where someone gets hurt or killed. If a prosecutor drops a domestic assault charge on someone who later seriously harms their partner, that is not going to look good.
So District Attorney’s err on the side of extreme, and sometimes nonsensical prosecution in these cases.
It can take a skilled defense attorney to fight these cases successfully in court. Sometimes it’s not really a legal issues, so much as a political problem to finesse. But good defense lawyers know what it takes to protect their clients from unfair and seemly bizarre prosecutions like “assault by cupcake”.
]]>The defendant admitted to holding her down on the ground with his foot. He claims to have used his foot to hold her down instead of bending over, because of his own back pain.
After the criminal summons, a judge in Kentucky has not found sufficient grounds to charge Profitt with 4th degree assault.
Most defense lawyers would strongly advise their clients accused of an assault charge to not speak to anyone about the case, particularly the press, and especially on camera. As it stands, it appears very likely that he has admitted to sufficient facts to find him guilty of that charge.
Via WKYT in Kentucky:
According to TPM, the man has been identified as Tim Profitt of Paris, Ky, a former campaign volunteer for Rand Paul. He must appear before a judge in the Fayette County District Court in Kentucky.
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