Posted on 10/08/2015 12:22:30 PM PDT by sparklite2
Judge Sentences Domestic Violence Victim to Jail for Not Showing Up at Her Alleged Abuser's Trial
But the victim explained to the judge that she wanted the charges against her alleged abuser dropped because the last time he'd been jailed, he'd been unable to pay her child support and she'd ended up homeless. So when she was subpoenaed, she did not show up because she did not want the man to be convicted.
Judge Collins, however, found the woman to be in contempt of court and sentenced her to three days in jail. "You were required to be here by a court order," Collins says in the video. "You disobeyed a court order, knowing that this was not going to turn out well for the state."
The woman begs for her to show mercy as she's handcuffed and taken into custody. "Judge, I'll do anything…. I have a 1-year-old son and I'm trying to take care of him by myself. I'm begging you, please, please don't," she says.
But Collins sentenced her to jail anyways.
(Excerpt) Read more at people.com ...
This is a toughie...
Can judges be recalled in Florida?
The Judge didn’t break the law at all.
It is not “anyways.”
Anyway, when you are subpoenaed you have to appear and obey court orders, unless you are part of the current administration.
Her mistake was admitted she received the subpoena in the mail. Had she used the “what supboena?” defense she’d be free today.
I don’t recall. ;)
he could be a danger to the child, but what is striking is how the state has decided women had the status of children with their own CPS like services. They decide again what is best for us, bit by bit.
But Collins sentenced her to jail anyways.
Of course, the events are in reverse order of presentation - she was sentenced to jail then mentioned being a single parent taking care of a 1 year old.
Pretty empty, really, as a defense, when there will be extensive telephone records between the DA's office and her, seeking assurance and reminding her of the court date appearance. Which I'm sure is the reason for the contempt hearing the next day.
That sure doesn't happen in my jurisdiction. Prosecutor just sends out a subpoena by regular mail. If there's anything to talk about they do it in court before the trial. That seems to be the practice throughout the state except for major felonies set for jury trial.
Well, after reading the story at the source it looks like this case was set for jury trial, so yeah, there was probably extraneous evidence that she had been served with the subpoena.
also FTA....
The alleged abuser was sentenced to 16 days in jail for simple assault after the victim was a no-show. The woman has since left him and now lives with her parents.
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Good. Maybe the poor parents can finish raising their child and hopefully provide for the 1 year old.
The real priority of the legal system. Screw the families, the important thing is keeping lawyers employed and prisons full.
Yup.
Not in this case. Maybe in,others., not this,one.
If she cant show up to a court case dealing with her domestic abuser, to give evidence, good grief. Not that hard to do. If she didnt want him to go to jail she could have blurted that out on the stand.
There is a very good chance he threatened her if she testified. I am sure his attorney told him what his sentence would likely be with and without her testimony so he had a pretty good incentive to make sure she would not show up.
Maybe her parents are well-armed and will drop him when he comes after the sex-partner and the child again. On the other hand, maybe he'll kill some or all of them.
Her blurting it out on the stand would have had zero impact on sentencing. I don’t know how serious the “abuse” was, but apparently she didn’t consider him enough of a threat that she wanted him incarcerated. They used to allow “victims” to decide whether they wanted it to go to court, based on what was best for their families. Then the misguided feminist do-gooders and the self-seeking lawyers passed laws to take the decision out of the hands of those involved, and put it in the hands of the system which has it’s own priorities.
I put abuse and victims in quotes because often it’s only minor fights, and as often as not women start them, but men are almost always blamed. People then call the cops without any idea how bad the long term consequences will be for the whole family.
It is very very sad that our misguided legislatures have made the consequences for the domestic abuser so punitive that the mother is far better off enduring the abuse and saying nothing than she is having the breadwinner prosecuted. The family is suffers when the breadwinner is heavily fined, goes to prison for months on end, and ends up a convicted felon for a violent crime.
What should happen is if the spouse (in this case, common law) slugs the other spouse, said spouse ought to be able to call the police who should haul the offending spouse off to jail for at least 24 hours. But it is the offended spouse who should be allowed to make the decision whether or not to press charges, with the state required to respect that decision. Child abuse cases, of course, should be prosecuted.
We have also gone way too far in the matter of men (or women) regarding child support. Taking away the driver's license or imprisonment is not a good solution, in fact it is awful! I think the answer probably lies in mandatory withholding for any support order. This should happen whenever a support order is issued as well as liens on assets, tax refunds, etc. In other words, you get a divorce, any property you hold has a lien placed on it, and the property cannot be disposed off without whatever support is owed to the children paid out of the proceeds. The focus should be on children being supported, not punishing the parent or making it impossible for the errant parent to support the child (which also means that the supporting parent must be allowed to keep a certain portion of his earnings for his own support.) And by the way, I am a woman.
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