tagged w/ Domestic Violence
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Read more: http://emilyslist.org/blog/Fighting_Domestic_Violence_as_Law_Enforcement/
By Val Demings
For much of our history, domestic violence was viewed not as a matter for law enforcement but as a personal or family matter. Because of that communities often stood by while women were being hurt or murdered. Finally, those laws have changed. Today, my former police department in Orlando has a zero tolerance policy on domestic violence. If you batter your significant other you will be arrested and you will go to jail.
What I always go back to are the raw numbers that explain how this tragic crisis hurts everyone it touches. For example, did you know that by the time you’re finished reading this blog a woman will have been beaten? And those are just the victims we KNOW about. These are the women and men who are brave enough to call the police and press charges. Twenty-five percent of all physical assaults, 50 percent of all stalking, and 20 percent of all rapes against women by intimate partners ARE reported to the police. So, you know the inverse of these numbers reflects that far too many crimes that go unreported.
Domestic violence crosses all ages, races, and economic backgrounds and continues to be a problem that all communities must work to stop. As Orlando Police Chief I was so proud of our officers who worked with our local shelters, not merely to help victims, but to be trained on the best way to work with victims to ensure offenders were brought to justice.
Read more here:
http://emilyslist.org/blog/Fighting_Domestic_Violence_as_Law_Enforcement/Read more: http://emilyslist.org/blog/Fighting_Domestic_Violence_as_Law_Enforcement/... more
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Last month, the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office, facing a 10% budget cut, announced that the county would no longer be prosecuting misdemeanors, including domestic violence cases, at the county level. Finding those cases suddenly dumped on the city and lacking resources of their own, the Topeka City Council is now considering repealing the part of the city code that bans domestic battery.
http://veracitystew.com/2011/10/11/de-criminalizing-domestic-abuse-your-teapublican-budget-cuts-at-work/Last month, the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office, facing a 10% budget... more
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Roxanne Jeskey, 48, enters the courtroom at Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor for her initial appearance Friday, June 24, 2011.
BANGOR, Maine — Her voice barely audible in the large first-floor courtroom, the local woman accused of brutally slaying her husband in June pleaded not guilty Thursday to a murder charge during a brief hearing at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
Roxanne M. Jeskey, 48, was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury in July on a charge of intentional or knowing murder or depraved indifference murder in the death of her husband, Richard Jeskey, 53.
Dressed in dark blue jail clothes, the accused killer appeared to have lost weight since her first court appearance after her arrest in June.
A trial date has not been set, but it usually takes at least a year for a murder case to be tried.
District Court Judge Bruce Jordan ordered Thursday that the defendant continue to be held without bail at the Penobscot County Jail. The issue of bail could be revisited at a later date, he said.
Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, who is prosecuting the case, said after the hearing that she has filed a motion asking that Jeskey undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Family and friends of the victim and the defendant attended Jeskey’s arraignment but declined to speak to the news media.
On June 13, Richard Jeskey’s body was found naked and bloody in the bathtub of the couple’s home on Ohio Street.
During her initial court appearance in June, Jeskey, who is being represented by her court-appointed attorneys, Joseph Baldacci and David Bates, said she was acting in self-defense. She said she had been brutally assaulted by her husband the night he died.
Baldacci reiterated Thursday that when he first met his client, she was “covered in bruises from head to toe” and recovering from her injuries at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor.
Richard Jeskey was beaten and strangled by his wife in a fit of jealousy, according to Bangor police who investigated his death. When officers went to the couple’s home on June 13, Richard Jeskey’s body showed signs of trauma to his groin, upper torso, face and head, according to a police affidavit filed at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
The results of an autopsy conducted June 14 at the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta showed that he suffered extensive multiple blunt- and sharp-force injuries to the head, neck, torso and limbs.
Jeskey admitted that she and her husband had a fight the night of June 12 into the early morning hours of June 13 because of a phone call between her husband and his ex-girlfriend, according to court documents. She admitted that she assaulted her husband “with various weapons including pliers, a box cutter and a plastic baseball bat.”
http://bangordailynews.com/2011/09/08/news/bangor/bangor-woman-pleads-not-guilty-to-killing-husband-in-june/Roxanne Jeskey, 48, enters the courtroom at Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor for... more
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Just like the "Kentucky Woman" Neil Diamond sang about, Melissa Harvick "shines with her own kind of light," you could say. Earlier this week, Harvick appeared at a family court hearing as the defendant in a dispute with her husband, who had filed a domestic violence order against her.
While her husband tried to explain his side of the story to the presiding judge, Harvick allegedly interrupted him and wouldn't stop talking. This prompted the judge to sentence Harvick to ten days in jail for contempt of court. The jail sentence did not please Harvick very much, as you will soon come to understand by watching the video above.
Harvick now faces more jail time and more charges. Lunge and learn.
http://gawker.com/5821924/kentucky-woman-angered-by-sentencing-attacks-judgeJust like the "Kentucky Woman" Neil Diamond sang about, Melissa Harvick... more
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Female prisoners experience the liberating effect of creative writing with the help of inspirational poet Leah Thorn.
http://vimeo.com/suzanne/beautifulsentenceFemale prisoners experience the liberating effect of creative writing with the help of... more
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Suffolk News-Herald...
Kitten’s death marks need for education
Published 8:35pm Saturday, June 4, 2011
By Michele Thames
Guest Columnist
Earlier this week, I learned about a case of animal cruelty in Suffolk in which a 12-year-old boy allegedly threw a kitten against a wall, kicked the kitten and attempted to stab the kitten with a pocketknife. Before the 12-year-old was able to hurt the kitten with the knife, another child stepped in and stopped the abuse.
There has been an outpouring of anger at the 12 year old child for his actions. There has been a flood of support for the heroic action of the child that stopped the mistreatment of the helpless kitten.
There are many different reasons why people hurt animals, and sometimes it is because they are simply cruel. Studies show that there is a correlation between animal abuse, child abuse and domestic violence. For some children, exposure to violence makes committing violent acts more probable.
The hope of the Suffolk Humane Society is that the 12-year-old child gets the help he needs so he can stop the cycle of abuse and cruelty.
Unfortunately, the kitten in this case died, but the boy who attempted to save his life deserves all the accolades in the world. It is very difficult to stand up for what is right, and it is never right to harm an animal in an act of violence.
The Suffolk Humane Society would like to publicly thank this boy for his heroic actions. Our hope is that all children will feel empowered to stand up for what is right and just as they grow up.
The Suffolk Humane Society is committed to a humane education program that teaches compassion and kindness toward both people and animals. We want to teach ways to commit to living an ethical, sustainable, and peaceful existence on earth with animals and humans alike. We have a team of committed volunteers and certified therapy dogs that are able to visit schools, community centers, churches and other gathering places to educate both children and adults.
Please visit our website, www.suffolkhumanesociety.com, or call 538-3030 and leave a message to find out more about our services or how you can help. The way that we treat those least able to defend themselves speaks volumes about our community.
Michele Thames is the humane education director and president of the Board of Directors for the Suffolk Humane Society.
PHOTO: This is NOT a photo of the kitten who was killed.Suffolk News-Herald...
Kitten’s death marks need for education
Published... more
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'Game of Thrones' is currently a hit on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland (if you got satellite TV), but one viewer's argument in Florida over the show ended up violent.
Michael Podniestrzanski was charged with domestic battery to his cousin Joshua Ross, arguing over who is going to win in a battle. According to police reports, Podniestrzanski threw a punch at his cousin and threw him out of the window. Ouch, should've read the book...
Source: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/domestic-abuse/man-battered-kin-over-hbos-game-thrones-780215'Game of Thrones' is currently a hit on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic in... more
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lantation, Florida (CNN) -- Being attacked in the courthouse was the last thing Catherine Scott-Gonzalez expected when she showed up for the final hearing in her divorce case.
"I just can't believe that it happened -- there are just no words for it," Scott-Gonzalez said Tuesday, as she continued to recover from a broken nose and a fractured jaw after being beaten by her estranged husband in a judge's chambers.
"The incident was disturbing and shocking," Broward County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Rothschild recalled Tuesday, adding, "In addition to the violence, the fact is that it happened in a court proceeding."
The proceeding that took place Friday in Judge Rothschild's chambers was the last hearing in the divorce of Scott-Gonzalez and her husband of about five years, Paul Gonzalez.
Thirty-five minutes into the hearing, when the issue of child support was brought up Gonzalez -- acting as his own attorney -- decided to leave the room, according to Michael Dunleavy, the attorney for Scott-Gonzalez. The couple, both former Marines, are the parents of two young children.
"He goes, 'I'm not going to pay child support,' and Judge Rothschild says, 'You know all parents have to pay child support, we all have to support our children,' and he (Gonzalez) stalked out of the room," said Dunleavy.
"He went calmly," remembered Judge Rothschild, "not happily, but calmly walked out of chambers, took one step out of the door, then in a blink of an eye -- I mean literally one step -- he came back in."
Upon returning, Gonzalez suddenly started punching his estranged wife, according to those in the chambers.
"It was from behind, I was blindsided, I was knocked out after the first punch," said Scott-Gonzalez.
A bailiff was not in the room at the time. The judge said if he had had any indication that Gonzalez was violent, he would have had security in his chambers. Scott-Gonzalez said in the past, she had twice sought restraining orders against her estranged husband but both attempts had been denied.
"I was very afraid of him but I did think that I was going to be safe," said Scott-Gonzalez, "As soon as you walk into the courthouse you have to go through a metal detector. There are Broward (County) sheriff's officers all over the place."
Both Scott-Gonzalez and Judge Rothschild said Dunleavy became the hero.
"My lawyer was sitting right next to me, which thank God he was, because he literally saved my life," said Scott-Gonzalez.
Dunleavy said he just reacted by restraining Gonzalez. when he saw his client being hit repeatedly.
Dunleavy said the judge hit a panic button and several deputies converged on the room, subduing and arresting Gonzalez.
Gonzalez has been charged with a felony battery resulting in great bodily harm, and resisting arrest. He is currently being held in a Broward County jail on $1 million bond and could not be reached Tuesday.
That is a bond high enough for Scott-Gonzalez to feel safe, for now.
"For him to have done that in front of who he did it in front of, who's to say when he gets out he's not going to come after me?" worries Scott-Gonzalez. She wants other men or women to know if they are afraid of their spouse even in a court setting that they should ask the judge for additional security.
"I thought you go there to get everything taken care of. Why would they (court officials) choose a place that wouldn't be safe? I thought it was safe," said Scott-Gonzalez.
"The only response I can give her is I go into that courtroom anticipating that I am going to be equally as safe," said Judge Rothschild, adding, "Violence is not OK any where but it is certainly not OK in the court of law in the United States of America."
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/04/19/florida.courthouse.attack/index.htmllantation, Florida (CNN) -- Being attacked in the courthouse was the last thing... more
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This Week’s Alert:
SAVE has filed a Complaint with the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar. The Complaint concludes:
“Mary Kellett’s repeated instances of prosecutorial misconduct has had the effect of undermining public respect for law. She is dangerous to the even-handed administration of justice. Kellett has been shown to be an enabler of a known perpetrator of child abuse. Therefore, prosecutor Kellett’s actions demand disbarment by the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar in order to assure the safety and tranquility of the citizens of Maine.”
The entire 8-page Complaint can be seen here: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/COMPLA1.pdf
SAVE has also sent a letter to Gov. Paul R. LePage, requesting that he “intervene to restore justice and to protect the interests of vulnerable children whose lives will be irrevocably affected by the outcome of this case:” http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/LePageLetter3.28a.2011.pdf
SAVE now invites you to speak out and bring about change. We call on persons to contact Governor LePage with a message like this: “For the sake of the children and for the sake of justice, please assure that Mary Kellett is relieved of her prosecutorial duties and disbarred from the practice of law.”
Maine’s criminal justice system is on a mission to stop domestic violence. This certainly would be laudable if the effort was:
Grounded in Valid Research
Women are as likely, if not more likely, than men to initiate physical aggression with their intimate partners, according to hundreds of studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and other organizations (1, 2).
Compliant with Ethical Principles
According to the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, “A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate. This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence.” (3)
Respectful of Civil Liberties
The Bill of Rights guarantees certain rights and protections to American citizens, including equal treatment under the law, due process (such as right to a fair trial), and probable-cause before arrest (4).
Unfortunately in the State of Maine, none of these hold true in the area of domestic violence. Indeed, the situation is more grave than what happened at Duke University because it has persisted over a far longer period of time and has harmed the lives of many more persons:
1. Prosecutorial Misconduct
Assistant District Attorney Mary Kellett has prosecuted dozens of innocent citizens on allegations of domestic violence and rape. She has flagrantly violated the above-stated ethical principle to be a “minister of justice.”
2. Supreme Court Action
One of the persons falsely accused is Vladek Filler, a father, small business owner, and long-time resident of Maine. On January 15, 2009, Mr. Filler was convicted on three counts of assaulting of his former wife, Ligia. But 21 months later the Maine Supreme Court ordered a re-trial on the basis that ADA Mary Kellett had sought to exclude key evidence that would have served to establish Filler’s innocence (5). More information on the case can be seen here: http://www.fillerfund.com/
3. No-drop Prosecution
Many prosecutors in Maine follow a “no-drop” prosecution policy. For example, one District Attorney promises on her website, I will “vigorously prosecute all cases” (6). Such policies flaunt the Board of Overseers ethical requirement that prosecutors not pursue a criminal charge “that prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause.” (7).
4. Predominant Aggressor
The Maine Criminal Justice Academy has developed a curriculum for law enforcement personnel, “Identifying Predominant Aggressors in Domestic Violence Cases.” A SAVE analysis of the curriculum concluded, “Given its numerous misrepresentations of fact and dubious recommendations, the Maine document cannot be viewed as a credible law enforcement resource.” (8)
Every false allegation, every wrongful arrest, and every trivial prosecution takes away sorely needed services and protections from the real victims. We are calling on Governor Paul LePage and representatives of the criminal justice system – particularly policemen, prosecutors, and judges — to assure truth and justice are safeguarded in the State of Maine.
References
1. Whitaker DJ et al. Differences in frequency of violence and reported injury between relationships with reciprocal and nonreciprocal intimate partner violence. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 97, No. 5, 2007.
2. Fiebert ML. References Examining Assaults by Women on their Spouses or Male Partners. California State University, 2010. http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm
3. Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar. Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor. Comment. http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=mebar_overseers_bar_rules&id=88228&v=article
4. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments. Are Domestic Violence Policies Respecting our Fundamental Freedoms? Rockville, MD. 2010. http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/SAVE-Assault-Civil-Rights
5. Maine Supreme Judicial Court. State of Maine v. Vladek Filler. Decided September 9, 2010. www.courts.state.me.us/court_info/opinions/
6. Office of District Attorney Carletta M. Bassano. www.da7.org/aboutda.htm . Accessed March 22, 2011.
7. Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar. Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor. 3.8(a) http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=mebar_overseers_bar_rules&id=88228&v=article
8. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments. Predominant Aggressor Policies: Leaving the Abuser Unaccountable? Rockville, MD. 2010. http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/Predominant-Aggressor-PoliciesThis Week’s Alert:
SAVE has filed a Complaint with the Maine Board of Overseers... more
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Very interesting find!
"Join host Paul Elam and listen while he strips the sugar coating off the problem of Domestic Violence in western culture. Find out who is lying to you and why, as well as learning a lot about women's capacity for violence that you probably didn't know. This show will hit you right between the eyes, with the truth!"
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avoiceformen/2011/03/09/violent-women-and-government-liesVery interesting find!
"Join host Paul Elam and listen while he strips the... more
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A German man admitted fathering at least seven children with his stepdaughter Tuesday as his trial opened on charges he abused her, his daughter and his stepson for more than 20 years and forced the two girls into prostitution.
The 48-year-old man, identified only as Detlef S. in line with German privacy rules, is charged with 350 counts of sexually abusing minors in his care between 1987 and 2010, and with 35 counts of facilitating sexual acts with minors.
He faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.A German man admitted fathering at least seven children with his stepdaughter Tuesday... more
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February 1, 2011
Abuse industry paves the royal road to the welfare state
By Carey Roberts
In a little-publicized move, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently approved a bill that creates a new multi-million dollar entitlement. Signed into law during the waning months of his second term, Senate Bill 782 bans landlords from kicking out scofflaw tenants who are victims of domestic violence.
The law defines a domestic violence victim as any person who "has filed a report alleging that the protected tenant or the household member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking." Note "alleging." No evidence or proof is necessary. If you declare yourself a victim, under the law you are.
So a single unproven accusation serves to keep a person high and dry for a good long time — at the expense of flummoxed homeowners across the state.
As the new California act reveals, our nation's domestic violence system has become a back-door entitlement program marked by broad definitions, loose eligibility criteria, and open-ended benefits.
Here's how the clunky system works: The abuse victim must procure a restraining order before services can be rendered. Such no-contact orders drive a nearly impenetrable wedge between the parties, leading Harvard law professor Jeannie Suk to opine our current approach represents a "government-imposed de facto divorce" system.
Social scientists note that family disintegration is primarily to blame for chronic inter-generational poverty. And as Table 35 of this Justice Department report reveals (http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cvus0702.pdf), crimes of family violence are seven times higher among divorced or separated couples than among persons in intact married relationships.
By promoting family break-up, the self-serving domestic violence industry places victims at greater risk of violence. This guarantees a never-ending supply of grisly 11 o'clock news stories and heart-breaking statistics.
Sadly, it gets worse.
Many states have broadened their definition of child abuse to include the mere witnessing of physical aggression between the parents. Mom slaps dad and junior catches a glimpse, that's child abuse.
Now Child and Protective Services gets into the act. Junior is carted off to a foster home for a couple weeks, if not longer. The stories I've heard about children trapped in the CPS maze, removed from the parents they desperately love, sends my blood pressure skyward.
Then there are the inner workings of the 1996 welfare reform law. Tucked into the back of the law, which goes by the unpronounceable acronym PRWORA, a little-known loophole called the Family Violence Option holds that any domestic violence victim is excused from PRWORA's two-year back-to-work requirement.
How does the federal reform act define domestic violence? According to PRWORA, "mental abuse" is tantamount to physical battering. And how does one go about proving he or she is a victim of mental abuse? Don't be ridiculous. You say you're a victim, you are one. No evidence or proof is necessary.
So each year, taxpayers cough up $63 million to coddle Welfare Queens claiming to be incapacitated by — yes, you guessed it — abusive head games.
Not that breaking up families is enough to satisfy the welfare state. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! So how, the Abuse Mavens ask, can we discourage persons from tying the knot in the first place?
It's simple. First, we launch public awareness campaigns designed to convince women that their beau is a latent axe-murderer. Watch Lifetime TV — you'll probably see a clip about the "cycle of abuse." Pay a visit to the doctor's, the nurse will ask if your boyfriend ever raises his voice. That's considered abuse these days. Go to the office bathroom, you'll see a sticker advertising the local abuse hotline.
Next we pass laws that selectively gut due process and the presumption of innocence. Soon word gets out — get married and the state may plunder your assets, your home, and your children. Marriage, eligible bachelors decide, is not a smart lifestyle option.
Then we slap a $25 abuse shelter fee on marriage licenses, which sends the scary message that you, married person, may end up looking like the back end of a meat grinder!" (No need to remind newlyweds that abuse rates in the intact family are close to zero.)
Finally, we never, EVER admit that women can be abusive, too. (Shhhhh. All the research shows women are just as likely as men to slap, hit, punch, and kick their mates: www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm . But we can't let that out. Keep it under your hat!)
The Census Bureau recently reported that, for the first time, there are more people in the prime marrying age (25-34 years) who have never been married than are wed. The portion of adults who are married — 52% compared with 72% in 1960 — is the lowest in history.
So there you have it. Fifteen years after passage of the federal Violence Against Women Act, domestic violence programs have become the hulking engine of marital break-down, a galloping entitlement mindset, and institutionalized welfare dependency.
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/roberts/110201February 1, 2011
Abuse industry paves the royal road to the welfare state
By Carey... more
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Due to scheduling conflicts, Chris Brown will be unable to attend this year’s Grammy Awards, according to the singer’s rep.Due to scheduling conflicts, Chris Brown will be unable to attend this year’s... more
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At least they didn't kill her, although they threatened to do so. They must be moderates. Afshan Azad Update: "Harry Potter actress was 'beaten and branded a prostitute by her family after dating man who was not a Muslim,'" from the Daily Mail, December 20 :
A Harry Potter actress was beaten, called a 'slag' and threatened with death after she met a young man who was not a Muslim, a court heard today.
Victim Afshan Azad, 22, played Padma Patil, a classmate of the teenage wizard, in the blockbuster Hollywood films based on the children's books by JK Rowling.
She was assaulted and branded a 'prostitute' after meeting a young Hindu man, a relationship which brought anger from her father, Abul Azad, 53, and brother, Ashraf, 28, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The frightened star, who has featured in four of the popular films, later fled through her bedroom window after threats were made to kill her.
But despite attempts to get her to come to court for the trial of her father and brother, Miss Azad, who is believed to be living with friends in London, would not attend voluntarily, the court was told.
Both men were charged with making threats to kill her and her brother was also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm on his sister.
Instead of both going on trial today, the prosecution decided to accept a guilty plea of assault by her brother, and both men were formally found not guilty of making threats to kill.
Miss Azad's character was a witch who was in the same year as Harry Potter, played by Daniel Radcliffe, at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry.
She first appeared as her character, the identical twin sister of Parvati Patil, in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.
She also starred in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, the final film in the saga.
Richard Vardon QC, prosecuting, told the court: 'The incident took place on Saturday 21st of May at the home address of the family in Longsight, Manchester.
'The prosecution allegation in essence is she was the victim of a wholly unnecessary and unpleasant assault by her brother.
'The reason for the assault, apparently her association with a Hindu young man, that apparently being disapproved of by her family who are Muslim.
'Specifically she spoke not only of assault but also threats to kill, made jointly by her father and brother.'
The prosecutor then gave details of the incident.
'The father, having been awoken from his slumbers, with his son shouting: "Sort out your daughter! She's a slag!"
'He continued to further assault her, in disputed Bengali, shouting, "Just kill her!"...At least they didn't kill her, although they threatened to do so. They must be... more
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Toys Pick Up for Women Are Dreamers Too Christmas 2010- Pls Read
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Two Oakland police officers apparently mistook an electronic scale commonly used to weigh drugs for a handgun when they opened fire on the owner of a hair salon Monday night, killing him, police said Friday.
Derrick Jones, 37, of Oakland also had marijuana in a glass jar in his pocket when police shot him on the 5800 block of Trask Street in East Oakland, said Officer Jeff Thomason, a department spokesman.
The two officers, who had responded to a report of a domestic dispute, shot Jones numerous times in the chest when he reached for his waistband, a police spokesman said.
The officers thought Jones was reaching for a gun, police said, but none was found. The scale Jones was holding was silver-colored and measured 3 by 5 inches, Thomason said.
Police declined to identify the officers who fired their weapons. But sources identified them as Officers Eriberto Perez-Angeles, who has been with the department for three years and is a member of the SWAT team, and Omar Daza-Quiroz, who has four years on the force.
Jones was on parole after serving nearly five months in state prison last year for a gun conviction, records show. He had previous arrests for drug possession and domestic violence, police said.
Police officials had initially declined to specify what the object was, citing concern for how that would affect Jones' family.
But on Friday, Jones' sister Tonya Saheli, 34, of San Leandro blasted police for killing her brother and for withholding that information. If anything, she said, news that police had killed Jones "because he had a scale and some weed" was damaging not to her family but to the department.
"My brother is gone over the fact that he had weed," Saheli said. "And they said they didn't want to reveal what it was because it would be embarrassing to my family? Are you serious?"
Saheli said, "It just magnifies my sentiments on the fact that they should not be given a pass. The fact that it was an electronic scale, it just really hurts."
Police said Jones, who owned a hair salon on Bancroft Avenue, had been the subject of a 911 call by a woman who said he choked and beat her. But Saheli said the woman, with whom Jones had a previous relationship, had "cried wolf" and made a "bogus call."
Jones ran from police because he believed he would be unfairly blamed for an incident in which the woman damaged his hairstyling shop, Saheli said.
Police said it was too early to say whether the shooting was justified. The officers who killed Jones are on paid administrative leave pending investigations by police homicide and internal affairs investigators and the Alameda County district attorney's office. An internal review board will determine if the incident warranted deadly force.
Asked by reporters this week about the incident, Police Chief Anthony Batts said he was reserving judgment.
But Batts said, "I do want to focus on the fact that we need to better ourselves in dealing with people who are going into waistbands, going into clothing, going into different aspects. We want to make sure that we give officers the proper training to address these things."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/12/BA8U1GB8VB.DTL#ixzz159zWQm1gTwo Oakland police officers apparently mistook an electronic scale commonly used to... more
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