Los Angeles, CA—Nearly every day cops working busy beats are sent to disputes that have gotten physical. They involve fights between strangers, friends, lovers and spouses. Most of these cases without visible injury are resolved without arrest if peace has been restored.
There are those cases with injuries to one or both combatants. Sometimes the injuries are quite serious. In the days before America became a Police State, victims to assaults told police they did not want to prosecute and the case was cleared and closed.
Today police, prosecutors and judges force victims into court through coercion.
A horrible by product of this kind of prosecution is that the person arrested may be totally innocent and the reason the so-called “victim” does not want to prosecute is that the original accusation was a lie. Fearing arrest for making a false report a person in this position is pushed into a wrongful prosecution.
There are those that argue that serial wife beaters have escaped justice and forced prosecutions are the only way to protect their victims. I say, “Hogwash!” This concept is un-American. Reluctant victims have all kinds of reasons tom not cooperate. Some are legitimately afraid and government’s responsibility should end when these victims refuse intervention and protection.
Government should provide temporary emergency shelter for any spouse to afraid to return to a residence where they claim they are in danger.
Being a cop and later a private investigator I had hundreds or perhaps thousands of cases and found that the classified victim was the cause of the problem.
Sometime there are people that just don’t want to subject themselves to police questioning and multiple court appearances. Their rights need to be protected, not to prosecute.
Orders of Protection.
Many of these orders are obtained in good faith but they are a waste of time when a domestic partner is in real danger. The only way to protect someone is to get them far away from their abuser. These orders don’t accomplish anything in that regard.
These things are far too often a nightmare for the innocent. Frequently they are only sought to give one spouse the ability to loot a home of possessions, and give a spouse an advantage in divorce and child custody settlements. These fraudulently obtained orders are public record and cause people to lose jobs or business relationships especially when they involve celebrities.
One case that stands out was when I got an emergency call from a lawyer late in the day to meet him and his “client” at court after hours at nearly 7:00 PM. I arrived to find a very concerned lawyer that just obtained an Order of Protection on behalf of a young attractive married woman. The Order was granted to evict the husband from the home. The lawyer told me he was fearful his client would get a beating if I did not get the husband served right away.
I went out to a very plush Scottsdale home where I contacted and served the husband. Normally I leave once I hand over the order but this fellow insisted on telling me his side of the story. Under the circumstances I felt I should listen for two reasons. One was to determine his mental state and dangerousness and the other is to let him blow off a little steam.
The story was indeed intriguing. The man’s wife was getting her car serviced so he drove her to work at a law office. They man had a scheduling problem that would affect his picking his wife up at 5:00 PM telling her he’s not arrive until around 6:00 PM. Things changed and he was unexpectedly able to be there at 5:00 PM.
The husband arrived to find the front door of the law firm locked. So he went around to the back door. He passed a large picture window to the conference room where the mini-blinds were ajar on one side. He saw movement and it was his wife having hot sex on the conference room table with the lawyer who instigated the Order of Protection!
To get the Order the woman had to say she had been either assaulted or threatened by the husband and that never happened. Not one but two divorces followed. Yep, the lawyer’s own wife learned of the affair.
Designated victims should always have the right to refuse prosecution and that should be the end. Prosecutors complain that victims are bought off by the offenders. Can it be so wrong that a person resolve his prosecution by paying his victim rather than the government? The victims would be far better off if they could be compensated for injuries and damages without government or taxpayer involvement.
Comments
Crap like Reid or Wiklander leads to many piss poor investigations.