Loading ...Domestic Dispute
The two candidates for Marion County Prosecutor are dueling over domestic violence. Democrat Melina Kennedy accused Republican Carl Brizzi of dropping the ball on domestic violence cases, citing a drop in the conviction rate since Brizzi first took office. Kennedy argued the number of convictions dropped from 37 percent in 2002 to 9 percent in 2005. Brizzi argued the statistics are misleading. Saying prosecutors file numerous charges against defendants which end up dropped for more serious charges. Brizzi accused Kennedy of not understanding how the prosecutor’s office works because she’s never tried a case. Kennedy told me her campaign used cases filed, not charges filed to prove their point. In addition, Brizzi argued a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has made it more difficult to win domestic violence cases because it limits the types of evidence that can be introduced. Kennedy acknowledged the Supreme Court case made winning domestic violence cases more difficult, but she said it is not impossible.
August 28th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
9 PERCENT!?
9 PERCENT!?
9 F’ing Percent!?
Carl can talk about all his experience. 9 percent is ridiculous.
August 28th, 2006 at 9:32 pm
Nine percent means that FEWER than 1 in 10 domestic batters are convicted. (Put another way, more than 9 in 10 domestic batters get off scott free).
Another body blow, esp. if the Kennedy camp put points behind it. I can see the graph on the television screen now.
August 29th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
The real problem here is the IN statute that requires that an officer dispatched to a “domestic violence” call take one of the parties into custody. The statute has the practical effect of forcing the Prosecutor (regardless of who it is) to file charges. What’s left is a he said / she said case. Many times, after the parties cool off, what “she said”, she isn’t saying anymore. Good luck winning that case, expierence or not.
August 29th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Some food for thought. Apparently the press is a little skeptical about the 9% number and is starting to do its own analysis. In about a third of the cases the misdemeanor dv charges are being dropped in exchange for pleas to more serious charges. If this is true, MK’s staff may be doing her more harm than good by putting out misinformation and getting the press all riled up. It only goes to hurt her credibility. This should be a competitive race of ideas, philosophy and vision and MK’s campaign being wrong on crucial data (either on purpose or by accident) doesn’t help.
August 29th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
MK has no ideas other than those issues that she should have and could have addressed from her position in the mayor’s office - but didn’t. So what does a candidate do when she has no ideas? She attacks her opponent. And attacks. And attacks.
Ideas? Philosophy? Vision? Melina has none of those. So what do you expect? Fortunately, this type of campaign hardly ever wins. Even when the incumbent is unpopular, which Carl is not, the challenger must always offer some new ideas. Melina has none.
August 29th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
9 PERCENT!
Tell me about the decline from 33 percent to 9 percent, and I swear to god, I’ll vote for Carl.
August 29th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
Imagine this scenario: A man strikes his wife and won’t let her leave the house. He is arrested and charged with Confinement (a B level FELONY) and Domestic Battery (different levels depending on the injury (if any) and prior convictions). The man, recognizing his guilt, plead to the higher level felony confinment in exchange for a dismissal of the lesser Domestic Battery Charge. The man is sentenced on the higher level crime.
Under MK’s “fuzzy math” the victory is in fact counted as a “domestic violence” dimissal. Its true the Domestic Battery charge is in fact dismissed; however, its part of a large plea. As a resulte the “domestic violence conviction rate” goes from 33 to 9 despite the fact that the wife-beating felon is serving time on a higher level felony.
Ta da! 33 became 9 and yet the citizens of this county are safer. Gotta love “fuzzy math.” I guess “Results Matter” after all.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:11 am
No, you didn’t explain the DROP. The campaign isn’t going to go through the trouble to create two models, if Brizzi’s number is 9, and Newman’s was 33, explain the DROP.
August 30th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
The drop seems to be an issue of how you explain numbers. If you look at the stats there are number of D’s who were charged with misdemeanor battery and another offense. The lower charged is dropped and the D is convicted on the larger charge. Exclude the larger charge in the stats and you go to 9%. It’s pretty simple math.
August 30th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
But, the Star story said it was looked at as CASES, not COUNTS. Besides, even if it counted as a dismissal and a guilty, its a wash.
August 30th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
If domestic violence convictions dropped from 37% to 9% because many of these charges are being plea bargained in lieu of guilty pleas for more serious charges, are we to assume that there was little or no plea bargaining in the 37% conviction rate? That’s not a valid argument.
The easiest method would be to tally up the number of domestic violence charges in a given period. Subtract all cases where the defendant wasn’t ultimately charged with domestic violence. The only exeption would be for cases where the charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement that results in a MORE SERIOUS offense.
Do that for both Brizzi and his predecessor and you’ll have a direct comparison that can’t be spun by either side.
August 30th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
It was done for both Brizzi and Newman (his predecessor and prosecutor in 2002).
August 30th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
Newman: 27%
Brizzi:9%
Period.