Did police chief's wife get special treatment? ("just a sad spouse who snapped")

Sun-Sentinel (South Florida) ^ | July 13, 2009 | Michael Mayo

[ConservativeStatement]

Last July, Eleanor Adderley fired a gun near her husband, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley, as he lay in bed, then two more times as he ran to a neighbor's house.

But somehow, over the course of one summer to the next, from her Plantation bedroom to a Broward courtroom, the gun disappeared. Metaphorically speaking anyway.

In a deal finalized Monday, Adderley pleaded no contest to a charge of "aggravated assault without a firearm."

Huh?

If this seems confusing and illogical, that's because it is. Especially since she also pleaded no contest to a charge of "shooting within an occupied dwelling."

[org.whodat]

What cops are dirty, say it’s not so!!!!

[JLS]

Well I think lots of times DAs twist themselves in knots to get a deal everyone can agree to. Possibly the victim here would have refused to testify if his wife was charged with crimes that made her liable for that much time. And without any injury to him or his testimony, the DA pretty much has nothing.

He might have her for shooting in a dwelling if they did a gunshot residue test on her that night and he had witnesses who could testify they heard gunshots. But what else did he have? The husband/chief was the key to his case.