The guy was an admitted felon. Sympathy evaporated when I got to that nugget. Better poster boys (such as the Duke folks) can be found. It looks like there were no false accusations here - he pled it down to a felony.
As for his exit - shooting himself in the head in the newspaper offices would have been a more meaningful way to go.
I don’t think it matters how he killed himself. He’s dead, isn’t he?
[As for his exit - shooting himself in the head in the newspaper offices would have been a more meaningful way to go.]
[A long time ago, when I was 12 or 13 and just introduced to idea of suicide by the self-killing of a man in our very small town (I was either a slow learner or raised in a different time), I asked my father with some vague anxiety if he had ever considered killing himself. [I do not know the circumstances of the unremembered man’s suicide, but my father’s response, on reflection, makes me suspect he did.]
His answer to me stuck with me through all these years, and became a response to live by: “Hell no, son. If anybody is ever grinding on me so hard that somebody has to die, it won’t be me!”]
The Statesman’s article noted that Morrisett was charged with choking his 44-year-old girlfriend until she “saw stars.”
Morrisett had wanted her out of his house, according to the police report, and he briefly pinned her to the bed with one hand over her throat. “I just choked you, is that not enough?” he said, according to a deputy’s affidavit.
Meeting deputies in his driveway, Morrisett even asked them how to remove his girlfriend, and upon further investigation deputies observed evidence of abuse from red marks on her neck, upper lip, and front shoulder.
The two apparently had a volatile relationship, according to Morrisett’s ex-wife. “It’s just hearsay, but I heard that she may have been as abusive to him as he was to her.”
Morrisett was charged with family violence with strangulation.
A restraining order prohibited him from having further contact with his girlfriend – and yet she continued living with him at his Austin home.
Less than two months later, the Statesman noted, she visited a local hospital complaining of neck and lower back pain. She subsequently told a police officer that Morrisett, after learning a grand jury had indicted him in the earlier assault case, become enraged, grabbed her arms, and threw her to the ground, the Statesman reported.
Why did she continue living with Morrisett? In an affidavit, a deputy quoted her as saying she was afraid to have the protective order enforced. Morrisett faced additional charges.
Did alcohol play a role in the domestic violence incidents? Court records don’t say. But Morrisett was a drinker despite being a nationally recognized expert on alcohol use (who also provided expert testimony in legal cases, including to his own lawyer).
His ex-wife said they both drank socially during their leisure hours, sometimes to excessive levels. They were divorced eight years ago.
Interestingly, the autopsy report dated September 19, 2018, noted that Morrisett’s “heart was moderately enlarged, which can be seen in hypertension (high-blood pressure) and chronic alcohol use.”
Asked about alcoholism, Morrisett’s ex-wife said: “I don’t believe that he felt he had a problem with alcoholism. He was able to control his drinking, but we both drank to excess at times. I could say that some of the spats we had were alcohol fueled on his part and my part.”
So all felons who have served whatever their term is should kill themselves? Sorry, I don’t think so. I believe this poor man was a victim of internet harassment. Unless you’ve had it happen to you (and I know of what I speak) don’t be so free to condemn the dead man, my Friend.
May 2016 is not exactly the past. Pretty darn current in fact.
Too bad you didn’t read down further where it addressed folks saying it was a two way street, the abuse.
Are you aware that men are victims of domestic violence considerably more than has been reported?
Police often ignore the report when it’s men who have been physically abused. Men have a stigma about reporting they’ve been abused by (a woman) their spouse (or female partner) too, so the reporting of incidents is impacted further downward.
Here are some articles on he subject.
- More than 40% of domestic violence victims are male, report reveals (British)
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/sep/05/men-victims-domestic-violence
The next is a WikiLeaks web page report. While it may not be entirely accurate, it does touch on some real issues associated with female on male violence.
- Domestic violence against men
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence_against_men
The next article covers domestic abuse against both men and women, but when you read it the only stats listed are for women. When it came to the violence in domestic cases, legislation didn’t even mention men. It was called the Violence Again Women Act. (VAWA)
> On March 9th, 2015 - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that the world has made “uneven progress” in combating violence against women and gender inequality and that it still “persists in alarmingly high levels.”
Notice the word Men in that? No!
- Domestic (Intimate Partner) Violence Fast Facts (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/06/us/domestic-intimate-partner-violence-fast-facts/index.html
The next article covers the abuse leveled at men. There are several studies and include physical abuse as well as verbal abuse.
Men were the victims in one study roughly 25% more than women. When more physical aspects were listed, the men dropped considerably from that figure. It’s still significant the amount of men who report being abused.
- The Number of Male Domestic Abuse Victims Is Shockingly High — So Why Don’t We Hear About Them?
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/the-number-of-male-domestic-1284479771263030.html
I know you wrote you didn’t care for the fact he admitted he was a felon. You didn’t seem to realize she may have been one as well, but skated on any charges because he may not have reported them.
I don’t approve of men taking physical measures against their wifes female companions either.
Have to go out now, so I can’t respond soon.
“The guy was an admitted felon. Sympathy evaporated when I got to that nugget.”
And it wasn’t decades ago when young.
Admitting to a felony does not mean he committed a felony. Lots of innocent people plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit in order to avoid a very real possibility of a long prison sentence, devastating legal fees, and just wanting to get the episode behind them.
He agreed to five years of probation. If he had committed the crime he was originally charged with, the prosecutor would never have agreed to probation.
Could very well be he was innocent.
That comment makes you sound like a heartless prick. I guess you skipped the part where Morrisett’s case was adjudicated and he paid his debt. I hope you never sit on a jury
He pled to a felony in order to get probation and no jail time, and not have to go through a ruiningly expensive court trial. A friend of mine did that years ago as a young man, when he got busted for drug possession. It's something that prosecutors like doing to keep their conviction rates high: offer probation in exchange for a guilty plea, to a man who can't really afford to put himself through trial.
Looking back, both this guy, and my friend, would have been better off going to trial, because in both cases having a conviction on their record ruined their future lives.