... about 3 a.m. We went to bed and he began to accuse me of cheating on him. He took a pillow and put it over my face. I couldn’t breathe. I gasped for air. He let me go and took a rope and tied my hands and feet together behind my back. It hurt. He kept putting the knife on my mouth and chest while he sat on my chest and put his knees on my arms. He said he was going to kill me. He cut the top of my lip and the bottom of my lip.. He kept saying he was going to kill me and my family, my two daughters and two sons. He had a lit cigarette which he threw on the bed. It landed next to me. I thought the bed sheets would catch on fire. He then said, ‘I missed you,’ picked up the cigarette and put it on my chest. The victim subsequently recanted her statement. Emergency department personnel who treated this woman noted various injuries and bruises and included her statements in the treatment notes. When the medical personnel later provided testimony, they met with the prosecutor for about 10 minutes and then were sequestered until their testimony. In addition to questions about the physical injuries, the nurse was asked questions about the cause of the injuries and about battered woman syndrome. Several objections were made; the jury was dismissed from the courtroom several times and the nurse was required to provide testimony outside the hearing of the jury so the judge could make her ruling. What this medical expert believed was going to be a short, primarily fact-based testimony turned into an extensive and sometimes confusing courtroom experience. Complete pretrial preparation with the attorney would have made this experience more helpful to the trier of fact and more positive for the nurse.
1: Is this a case of interpersonal violence? If so, why? If not, how should it be classified? |