he pleads "not-guilty"??? Why would he plea "not-guilty"??? There are pics of the bruises. Ugh...my un-answered questions, sorry. I mean, jesus, he's been sittin' in county jail now for over a month, he has gone through 2 Public Defenders!! By the time he puts in a plea, which isn't until after Xmas, he'll have been there 2 months, something just doesn't seem right with this court system I swear...I'm really curious to know how much time he will serve.

Cheers!!

A great many abusers honestly do not believe they've done anything wrong or that if they did "go overboard" that it's not such a big deal, so many do plead Not Guilty despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
If he does that, then it goes to trial... depending on the exact charges, the nature and severity of the injuries, his prior record, the evaluation of the Probation Officer and the mood of the judge, if found guilty, he could do anything from time served to as long as another 3 years.

The simple fact is that pictures of bruises could be taken at any time, and the bruises could have come from any number of causes . . . I, for instance, work with horses and have any number of bruises from assorted bumps and bangs. The point of a trial is to create a chain of evidence - neighbors hearing argument>police arriving>removal of culprit>police report>witness statements>your testimony. All those put together lead to the verdict, but until that chain has been officially presented in court and proved he can always hope that his lawyer can break the chain. The judge or the jury has to decide if that has been done.

The simple fact is that pictures of bruises could be taken at any time, and the bruises could have come from any number of causes . . . The point of a trial is to create a chain of evidence - neighbors hearing argument>police arriving>removal of culprit>police report>witness statements>your testimony. All those put together lead to the verdict, but until that chain has been officially presented in court and proved he can always hope that his lawyer can break the chain. The judge or the jury has to decide if that has been done.

Unless the pictures were taken by the police. They took pictures at the hospital and I went the next day to the forensics building. My DV incident was a one time thing - he snapped, I got the brunt of that, there was no chain of evidence as it was just that one time. Everyone we knew were completely and totally stunned that he did it. All the evidence in my case actually was police initiated. All the pictures, the damage to my front door, the walls, the furniture. In spite of that - my case was in the system for a long time. In a way it was good because the anger I felt hearing - pushed over until - almost everytime I went to court helped me with the fear of being in the same room with him, but I tell ya, after a year, I was frustrated beyond belief.


The day sentencing was supposed to take place, the prosecutor (a different one than had been working with me) told the judge that he didn't want to enter the plea as he hadn't had an assessment done. I was pissed. They couldn't have done that in the beginning. So that pushed it back another 3 months.

But I have to say, in that time, he changed his plea from not guilty to assault with bodily harm to guilty - even though I have had no contact with him for years - I have heard through family that he still doesn't know why, and didn't even remember it happening until they threw the pictures of what he did to my face and body at him.

I am so glad that chapter in my life is closed.

Thank you for your responses :)

The pictures were taken by the Officer. I went to the police station myself. My bruises were very red and you could tell they were new (on my arms and hands), plus my knee was swollen (pulled ligament) and I had a scratch mark under my eye from when he tried to stick his thumb in my eye?!?! which they took a pictures of...I did not go to the hospital that day, but I followed up with my own doctor a couple weeks later (knee pain wasent going away). Officer said he had a "history" when I was waiting in the police station for them to go to my place to arrest him. Officer said, mostly small stuff, but he did have one prior DV about a year ago, with his step-father, which he served time for I guess, and there's a RO active from his cousins g/f...from what I hear from his mother, this cousins g/f punched him and he then slapped her back, hence the RO. He was on probation once, but couldnt handle it, so he turned himself in and served the reminder of the time, rather then be on probation. Everyone has their own opinions on how much "time" he may get...some say 6 months, others say 3 years, some say just the time he has already served...I feel like we should all make a game of it and see who's the closest (LOL) pfffftt!!!

From what I've seen, the public court system here in CA seems to kinda suck...The "overcrowding", the lack of public defenders. Inmates seem to have alot of rights in jail. Hell, he has changed PD's twice now. However, I think the overcrowding issue is a BIG issue, and has a HUGE factor on how much time he actually gets and or, if he is a "threat" to the public, which I don't think he is...I think he is more of a threat to himself (LOL). I laugh at some of this stuff because, honestly, he was messin with the wrong girl..(lol)...I wasent about to put up with this in my own home...no way!! And I didnt. I limped my butt right down to that police station the next day. I wasent going to give him the chance to do it again..hell to the NO!! I told him, right before I walked out the door...I told him I was PISSED OFF and DONE!! He should have taken that as a HINT!! Dumba**!! AND THEN....(lol)...after all that macho egotistical BS he tried to use on me that night...HE THEN...locks his sorry a** in the bathroom when the cops get there and he CRIES!!!! *rollseyes* pffft.

The way I see it is...I can be misrable on my own, I don't need anyones help, cha know... :)

Soooooo...Guess who called and left a message today?.....his PD!! (lol) I haven't responded. He said I didn't have to either, however, he had a "couple" questions in regards to that evenings events. Now I had written a letter to the judge regarding him benefiting from counseling etc..So I'm not sure if that's what they are calling in regards.

NOW...this is the funny part (lol)!!!! So he calls, and he says on my vm, "My name is ___ ____ , I'm calling regarding _____ _____", HOWEVER, GET THIS!!!! He got his last name WRONG (lol)....like as in a completely different last name!!! *rollseyes* He at least got his first name right.

The reason I find this so funny and sad is...You hear and read about the overworked PD's and that they dint take the "time" to visit with their client for more then 5 to 10 minutes, if your lucky. This just kinda validated what I've read about.

Please do NOT talk to his lawyer.
Anything you say to him can be twisted to meet the needs of the defense- If you say nothing kind or reasonable, you'll be painted as vindictive.
If you DO say something kind or reasonable, it will be "And even the alleged victim in this case admits that......"
He can get his questions answered either in depositions or at trial.

Please do NOT talk to his lawyer.
Anything you say to him can be twisted to meet the needs of the defense- If you say nothing kind or reasonable, you'll be painted as vindictive.
If you DO say something kind or reasonable, it will be "And even the alleged victim in this case admits that......"
He can get his questions answered either in depositions or at trial.

Thank you, that's really good advice :) I havent thought about the "twisting" on the words...

Even if I did say something "reasonable", all they really have to do is look at the police report and the pictures?!? right?!? I mean it is after all People vs Him, not Me vs Him....I mean could he really get less time from anything I say?!? i doubt it, considering there are pictures to prove otherwise. Im just trying to figure out the legal system...

Why chance it? You would then have to defend yourself and re-explain, and there's every chance it can in fact be turned around on you somehow, via his lawyer. If he needs to talk to you, he can do it in deposition, and you should have a lawyer there for it to protect your interests.

If you don't know the ins and outs of legal procedure then you don't know what can be done with anything you say. My ex managed to imply that all the bruises I had came from handling horses. Yeah, that's my job, but my horses don't leave fingermarks! But it threw some doubt out there, and it annoyed me no end just to hear the lies. Actually, it upset me that he would attempt to deny that he'd done anything wrong and hear his lawyer state that I was, for unknown emotionally-impaired reasons, attempting to damage his sweet self.

Mitchell79, out of curiosity.....why did your husband attack you for in the first place? The motives for the attack will be important to determine the sentence, even if he pleads guilty. I take it you want the longest possible sentence, eh? Or do you want him out earlier?

Mitchell79, out of curiosity.....why did your husband attack you for in the first place? The motives for the attack will be important to determine the sentence, even if he pleads guilty. I take it you want the longest possible sentence, eh? Or do you want him out earlier?

Well, he isn't my husband...we meet in Feb and moved in together in Sep..and the beating occurred in Nov..As far as that evening events - He had been irritable for a couple days, with life in general...no real argument lead up to the beating, he spoke a lot about his past and his current work situation and money etc...stress. This was first time he had laid a hand on me. I went to the police the next day.

I just went through all this stuff this year. Mine is now serving his time in his permanent facility. He was going to plead "not guilty" as well and make it go to trial. I ended up -playing "chicken" with him about that and when I showed up to testify, his lawyer told him he better plead out. His lawyer and I did speak, but I was so careful in what I said to him. I believe his lawyer knew he was defending a known abuser and he sure didnt want me on the stand to testify. He couldnt dig up anything to use against me to do any good for my husband and he sure knew it too. When he spoke to my neighbors, he told them he sure didnt want them at the trial.
My DV incident occurred on 1 March 2008, his plea went before the judge on 2 June 2008 and wasnt accepted ( The DA didnt call me and tell me when it was or that I needed to be there, or I would have been there.) So it was put off until 21 July 2008. Thats when I was informed and showed up. I was a basket case even thinking of being in the same room with him and it showed. There were photos of me the police had taken, the hospital records when I went after getting someone to watch my daughter, he has an extensive record and 7 past DV incidents just since 2000. They had the knives, my robe and it didnt hurt any that i know the chief of Police where I live as well as the Sheriff. I dont do drugs or drink either, so my husband was sunk and everyone knew it. He just tried to get me to not testify because I am his wife. I wasnt letting him get away with it again. I had already prosecuted him for the third time, he wasnt getting away with the 4th, it was his last time to hurt me like that.

So mine plead out for good reason and got 2 yrs TDC time. I wish I hadnt allowed them to drop some of the charges because he would have gotten like 5 or 15 years, up to 20 yrs, but I based my decision on how testifying would be for me, and only the 4th time he abused me. He is getting what he deserved for the 4th time. Should he hurt some other woman, and he will, no one doubts this, he will just get more TDC time and the key will be thrown away.

It takes time going through the judicial process thats for certain. You have to do much of everything yourself here in Texas so you will know what is going on with the case. More or less I was happy with what my husband got because he only got 2 days in jail for the 3rd beating and I was pregnant at the time that incident occured. so 2 years was better than 2 days!
Good luck!

By the way - He plead guilty! Just updating my own thread!! :lol:

So how long will he serve?

He got exactly what the DA said at the very beginning, 2 years. In other words, they said 2 years, 7 months ago...took 7 months for him to plea, which bought him time at remaining at county jail, since he already knew he would be going to prison from the get go...and lets face it, who wants to go to prison?! He has currently served all together almost 8 months so far...that's without "credits". I'm guessing he'll do another 7 months or so...not sure tho.

He sittin' at reception now - once he sees the consoler is when he actually finds out his exact release-date, plus a bunch of other stuff...


So how long will he serve?

And you're still giving him the time of day?

yup, I still care for the turd at this stage.

And you're still giving him the time of day?