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LEXINGTON COUNTY TARGETS BATTERERS

The following article appeared in today's edition of The STATE.

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County targets batterers
FIGHTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

By CLIF LeBLANC

Some men just won’t stop beating women, and Lexington County is trying to block the blows in a novel way.

The Sheriff’s Department has a $1 million plan to hire specialized detectives to combat accused batterers who figure no one can stop them from intimidating or sweet-talking their partners to avoid prosecution.

It would be an innovative, expensive plan that no other police agency in South Carolina has, law enforcement agencies and victim rights advocates said.

Prosecutors hope it helps them convict more batterers when victims are reluctant to cooperate, like the Sheriff’s Department said has happened in 80 percent of its cases since mid-2005.

A federal grant the agency wants would provide the means to intercede between partners and stop people like Gary Dean Morton.

Morton has been jailed nine times in the past two years for ignoring court orders to stay away from the mother of his two children and on domestic violence charges, jail and court records show.

The woman keeps taking him back.

The couple’s troubles are typical of the complexity of violent relationships and the challenges of winning convictions when victims have second thoughts.

South Carolina has a persistent problem with domestic violence. The state repeatedly ranks among the nation’s worst in its rate of men killing their partners.

Though several Lexington County victims have been beaten viciously — a judge even had to stop a defendant with pepper spray in court once — none has been killed in recent years, said Nicole Howland, who prosecutes most domestic violence cases in Lexington County.

Many police agencies have domestic violence officers who help make cases after desperate calls for help.

None has officers to enforce “no-contact” orders from judges and keep cases on track until trial, even if the partners reconcile, police and advocacy organizations said.

The S.C. constitution guarantees that crime victims be free “from intimidation and harm.”

“This would be a direct assignment to monitor that particular right,” said Laura Hudson, one of the state’s most veteran victim rights advocates.

BREAKING THE BONDS

Howland pushed for the $831,000, three-year grant because most couples will not stay apart while their cases are pending.

“People kiss and make up,” said USC law professor Kenneth W. Gaines, who teaches litigation. “It’s hard to keep them adversaries.”

One accused batterer in Lexington County made almost 300 phone calls to his partner over six weeks despite no-contact orders, Howland said.

Another victim took a bus to Tennessee to get away, then returned and married her attacker, who requires her to call him “Master Bob,” the prosecutor said.

Often, victims are pressured by practical concerns.

“A lot of women are going to recant because the stakes are high — our marriages, our livelihoods, our children,” Hudson said.

Hudson points to the trials of former Lexington police chief Stace Day as an example of a wife, Laurie Day, who called police in the heat of a fight then reversed her account in court.

She testified she filed the complaint to hurt her husband because she suspected he had resumed an affair.

The result is two hung juries and an upcoming third trial. Stace Day was fined $500 for violating a no-contact order during the couple’s reconciliation.

Hudson said the Day case damages police, prosecutors, judges and other victims.

“They have been used both by the chief and his wife to settle what was a jealousy situation,” Hudson said. “You’ve spent all this money because people have aired all their dirty laundry to get back at each other.

“It’s got to be discouraging to a woman who has a real need.”

SPECIALIZED ENFORCERS

If the county is awarded the grant, new detectives would become buffers for those victims, advocates said.

The officers would use surveillance to gather evidence and testify that no-contact orders are being violated, and they—not the victim—would ask a judge to jail offenders for ignoring a court order.

Contempt of court can land offenders in jail for up to 30 days.

That could break the cycle of repeated contact by couples.

While the violator sits in jail for contempt, victims can find new homes, go to a shelter, change jobs and arrange to protect their children.

The detectives also would serve warrants or deliver subpoenas, compelling reluctant victims to court, Howland said.

More impact would be seen once the cases go to trial, with detectives helping prosecute the cases even if the victims refuse to cooperate.

Testimony from the detectives could offset restrictions the U.S. Supreme Court recently has approved that limits evidence allowed in cases when the victim is not on the stand.

The justices restricted use of 911 tapes and written statements because that denies accused batterers their cross-examination rights.

UNIQUE BUT COSTLY

The Sheriff’s Department is asking for $831,000 in federal grants to hire and equip the two detectives over three years. An additional $277,000 match must come from the sheriff’s budget.

A decision on the grants is likely by late August.

Lexington County has a history of aggressively combating domestic violence.

In 1999, it established the state’s first specialized domestic violence court, again using federal grants.

The money paid for Howland’s position, as well as two detectives who worked domestic violence cases exclusively. The grant also provided a centralized court and judge and the use of counselors to treat batterers.

Unlike other domestic violence prosecutors, Howland is the only one in the state who works for a sheriff, not a solicitor.

Since the grant expired, three detectives help her prepare cases.

Lexington’s efforts show what focused attention can accomplish, advocates said.

A USC study published in 2003 found a 10 percent increase in arrests and a 50 percent reduction in subsequent violations after the court was established.

Howland’s conviction rate since mid-2005 is about 42 percent, an analysis of figures supplied by the Sheriff’s Department shows.

Sistercare operates two shelters for battered women in Lexington County.

“It absolutely will help,” director Nancy Barton said of the new plan for specialized detectives. “It would be a piece in this whole chain of events to keep batterers accountable.”

Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664.