Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: My husband being charged with a mistomeaner

I deplore domestic violence arrests in cases where there is no complaining witness. There is a simple way for you to solve your problem, but as I am a lawyer it would be against the canons of legal ethics for me to tell you what it is. You will have to figure it out for yourself.

Re: My husband being charged with a mistomeaner

Your story doesn't make much sense. If you are telling the truth , why did you make a formal complaint against your husband? And why did the police get involved in the first place? Somebody must have called them, and that somebody must have told them that your husband hit you.

The problem is that the person who made this call must have been you. Your husband certainly didn't do it; why would a man who didn't strike his wife call the police to say that he did? I think it's safe to assume that your two-year-old didn't make the call, either. Bystanders who see one person bump into the outstretched hand of another seldom mistake what they saw for an assault, and even when they do the police quickly figure out what happened and move on.

This means you must be the one who called the police, and you obviously didn�t tell them what you�ve told us. And let�s not forget that you actually wrote and signed a formal report afterwards. No one will believe that you did that if the story you are now telling is true.

There is only one reason you would need to be making up a story about how you and your husband's hand came into contact -- there must be additional evidence that he hit you. I'll bet that this evidence was a bruise or a red mark on your body. It is hard to imagine someone bumping into another person�s outstretched hand so hard that it leaves a mark. Just try to picture such a collision in your head and you�ll see how implausible it is.

Since your version of events defies both common sense and everyday experience, the only reasonable conclusion is that you are lying in order to protect your husband and that what you wrote in the report was true. Such changes of heart happen all the time in spousal abuse cases and, when they do, the initial story is almost always the truth.

The fact that you have changed your story will not prevent the DA from prosecuting your husband, and neither will your stated desire not to press charges. You can be compelled to testify against your husband, and even if you continue lying to protect him you are unlikely to succeed. Jurors are not easily fooled by such maneuvers (I, for one, don�t believe your story -- I've only heard your side!); if anything, they interpret such a change of heart as further evidence that the husband frequently batters the wife.

I know that losing his income will be hard, but enduring more of his violence will be worse. And I question your priorities, since you seem more concerned about your husband's ability to continue hunting then about your own physical well-being. Why on earth do you want to help this man keep a gun in the house?

You say you are in counseling, and I hope it helps. If it doesn't, though, you need to stand up for yourself and not allow your husband to treat you this way. You have grown to accept your husband�s behavior. Changing that may require professional help, but the change really is necessary.

Re: My husband being charged with a mistomeaner

There are a few things you and your husband can do, but unfortunately, he needs a lawyer to represent him. If he doesn't qualify for a public defender then, he has no choice but to hire a lawyer. Some lawyers take payments, some lawyers take credit cards.

Usually the District Attorney is unmoved by scenario you described because it is one that is heard often. The goal of the attorney that represents your husband would be to negotiate a resolution that would allow your husband to keep his job and get the two of you the help you need to have a healty relationship. Nobody wants to see your husband out of work, but it takes some work with District Attorney to get the results you want.

I can't suggest strongly enough that your husband have a lawyer. As you know the consequences of this offense are rather significant.

Feel free to call me if you have additional questions.

Good luck,

Elena