Category: Law Enforcement

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Child Custody Domestic Violence False Allegations Law Enforcement Press Release Prosecutorial Misconduct Sexual Assault Violence

PR: One Perjurer, One Unethical Prosecutor, One Wrongful Conviction. SAVE Calls on Judge to Vacate Conviction of Vladek Filler

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Phone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

One Perjurer, One Unethical Prosecutor, One Wrongful Conviction. SAVE Calls on Judge to Vacate Conviction of Vladek Filler

Washington, DC/August 13, 2012 — Victim advocacy group Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is calling on Judge Robert E. Murray to vacate the conviction of Vladek Filler for allegedly pushing his wife Ligia Filler in April 2007.  The custodial father of two children has been sentenced to 21 days in jail. The conviction follows five years, two criminal trials and appeals involving prosecutorial misconduct.

The charges stemming from Filler’s child custody dispute ranged from spousal rape to splashing water on his wife.  The 1st trial court and Maine Supreme Court found prosecutor Mary N. Kellett had engaged in misconduct.  The divorce court granted Filler sole custody of his children, found his wife made false allegations and was a violent child abuser. But prosecutor Kellett announced Filler will still be re-prosecuted for the same claims which failed in the 1st trail and dismissed in District Court findings.

In 2011 SAVE filed a Grievance Complaint[1] with the Board of Overseers of the Bar (BOB) demanding Kellet’s disbarment.  Bar Counsel J. Scott Davis in an 18-page Disciplinary Petition[2] charged that Kellett “has acted in a manner unworthy of an attorney,” violated nine rules[3] of conduct, failed to provide defense with discovery, violated a court order, and instructed police officers not to cooperate with defense subpoenas.  Davis stated that Kellett then made “misrepresentations to the jury of the actual facts”, and concluded “she should receive such appropriate disciplinary action as is provided for by the Maine Bar Rules.”

In a Washington Times editorial Michael Conzachi wrote “I do not believe that the sanctions are sufficient and Ms. Kellett should face federal criminal civil rights violations as well. Mr. Filler, who has been trapped in a nightmare of a family-law case filled with false allegations of child abuse and sexual abuse, has been subjected to violations of his civil rights.”[4]

Indeed, Filler’s retrial, evidence used to convict him, and the harsh punishment need further investigation since Filler is a substantiated victim of serious prosecutorial misconduct.[5]  “Men who have no criminal record get a fine or an afternoon DV class for allegations like this. Not only did the judge sentence Vladek to jail, he sentenced him to 21 days,” says SAVE spokesperson Philip W. Cook, “It was all very personal and had nothing to do with what they convicted him of.”

The BOB will convene a disciplinary hearing against Kellett for misconduct in the Filler case. SAVE calls for Kellett’s disbarment and vacation of Vladek Filler’s conviction and sentence.

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org

[1]  http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/COMPLA1.pdf
[2] http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/Kellett-Disciplinary-Petition.pdf
[3] http://fenceviewer.com/site/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=75933:hearing-scheduled-on-complaint-against-assistant-da&Itemid=938
[4] http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/8/prosecutorial-persecution-in-maine
[5] http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/2012/04/12/me-bar-counsel-recommends-discipline-for-ada-mary-n-kellett

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Domestic Violence Law Enforcement Press Release Research Training Violence

PR: Police Academy Curriculum Stereotypes Men as Abusers

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Police Academy Curriculum Stereotypes Men as Abusers

WASHINGTON/August 2, 2012 — Maine’s predominant aggressor policy removes the presumption of innocence from the accused and labels men as abusers, says victim-advocacy group Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). The Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s “Identifying Predominant Aggressors in Domestic Violence Cases,” designed to train state law enforcement personnel, unfairly targets men, even though both sexes engage in domestic violence at similar rates.

One Centers for Disease Control study found 50% of violent couples are mutually aggressive, meaning both persons are exchanging blows. For one-way aggression, females were the perpetrators in 7 out of 10 cases (Daniel Whitaker. American Journal of Public Health, May 2007).

Law enforcement officials openly acknowledge that predominant aggressor policies are biased. “When it’s a ‘he-said, she-said’ situation with no injuries, we just arrest the guy,” admitted one officer.

SAVE’s report on Predominant Aggressor policies cites numerous deficiencies with the Maine curriculum (http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/Predominant-Aggressor-Policies):

  1.  The curriculum arbitrarily classifies face scratches, eye gouges, and arm bites as defensive, when such injuries can be actions taken by the perpetrator.
  2. Some criteria for identifying the predominant aggressor are subjective and vague such as, “power and control dynamics of the couple.”
  3. None of the curriculum’s 10 vignettes recommends arresting the female.

In addition, the curriculum does not address the possibility that the accusations may be false. It’s not uncommon for a woman to perpetrate domestic violence against a man, then call the police and accuse him of the abuse, SAVE notes.

During a July 10 domestic violence conference held in Portsmouth, NH, researcher John Hamel termed predominant aggressor policies “based in politics and ideology” and “nearly impossible to properly implement.” Several national columnists have also highlighted the biases in the Maine curriculum.

“Domestic violence experts around the country are pointing to Maine’s predominant aggressor guide as an example of a well-intentioned law enforcement policy that ends up revictimizing the victim,” says SAVE spokesperson Philip W. Cook. “Maine lawmakers must demand that Criminal Justice Academy director John Rogers rescind his harmful curriculum.”

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org.

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Domestic Violence False Allegations Law Enforcement Press Release Violence

PR: SAVE Applauds Justice Dept. Probe into Wrongful Convictions

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Phone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

SAVE Applauds Justice Dept. Probe into Wrongful Convictions

WASHINGTON / July 12, 2012 — Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) welcomes the recent announcement that the Department of Justice and FBI are launching a probe of thousands of criminal cases to determine whether defendants were wrongly convicted. The news was highlighted in a recent Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/justice-dept-fbi-to-review-use-of-forensic-evidence-in-thousands-of-cases/2012/07/10/gJQAT6DlbW_story.html

Each year millions of dollars in prosecutorial resources are squandered on trivial and false cases of domestic violence, thus shortchanging real victims who deserve priority from the criminal justice system, SAVE believes.

One survey found that about two-thirds of prosecutors’ offices around the country have implemented so-called “no-drop” policies for domestic violence: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/Unequal-Justice-in-the-Criminal-Justice-System. Such policies obviate the requirement of probable cause, and have resulted in innocent citizens being needlessly charged and wrongfully convicted.

In a recent high-profile case, high school athlete Brian Banks, wrongfully accused of rape, accepted a 5-year plea bargain, rather than face the uncertainties of a trial. Banks’ conviction was overturned in May after his accuser admitted on tape that the accusation was false.

Earlier this week, former Hofstra University student Rondell Bedward settled his lawsuit against false rape accuser Damnell Ndonye. Despite the existence of a video showing the sex was consensual, prosecutors had forced Bedward and 4 other accused men to be detained.

In 2011, SAVE filed a Grievance Complaint against Maine prosecutor Mary N. Kellett for multiple instances of prosecutorial misconduct: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/COMPLA1.pdf. Kellett’s case will be heard August 30-31.

SAVE says the Violence Against Women Act, currently up for reauthorization in Congress, needs to add provisions that require prosecutors receiving VAWA funding to eliminate no-drop policies and enforce laws that ban perjury and false swearing.

SAVE is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to domestic violence: www.saveservices.org

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False Allegations Law Enforcement Press Release Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: VAWA Must Stop Funding Lethal Mandatory Arrest Policies

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

VAWA Must Stop Funding Lethal Mandatory Arrest Policies

Washington, DC/May 8, 2012 — States that enacted mandatory arrest policies saw a 60 percent increase in intimate partner homicides, according to a Harvard U. study. Now, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is calling on lawmakers involved in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to halt funding for such lethal policies.

Beginning in 1994, VAWA pushed states to change their domestic violence arrest standards from probable cause to the more aggressive mandatory arrest policy. Under mandatory arrest, the accused person is taken away in handcuffs if the police are called, even in the absence of evidence of physical violence.

VAWA’s 2005 reauthorization did away with the mandatory arrest language, but states continued to enforce these harmful policies. SAVE insists that the House of Representatives insert language in its version of VAWA that would stop taxpayer funding of arrest without probable cause.

Victims usually just want an officer’s help to defuse the situation, and are less likely to call for help if it will mean an arrest. So police aren’t there when they are needed most. Harvard researcher Dr. Radha Iyengar explains, “victims don’t want to call the police after the laws are implemented.”

SAVE’s report further details how the spike in homicides—more than 600 intimate partner murders a year—can be attributed to the mandatory arrest policies. http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/Justice-Denied-DV-Arrest-Policies

Besides loss of life, VAWA’s mandatory arrest policies have resulted in a civil rights fiasco by compromising the due process rights of the accused. Nearly 70 percent of those arrested are never convicted of the alleged offense—a sign that Fourth Amendment probable cause protections often are not met.

Said SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook: “The needless loss of 600 lives each year is a stinging indictment of mandatory arrest. Amazingly, Congress continues to dole out $30 million in taxpayer money each year to support this blinkered policy.”

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org

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False Allegations Law Enforcement Press Release Restraining Order

PR: One in 10 Falsely Accused of Abuse: Survey

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

One in 10 Falsely Accused of Abuse: Survey

Washington, DC/October 17, 2011 — One in 10 adults has been falsely accused of domestic violence, child abuse, or sexual assault, according to a survey conducted by Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). The survey also found a strong disparity between the number of males and females falsely accused: more than three quarters of all false accusations are levied against men. Nearly seven in 10 false accusers are female.

The survey is the first of its kind to be undertaken, and uncovers distressing trends within the American abuse-reduction system.

Child abuse is the commonest false charge — about twice as many people have been falsely accused of child abuse as of domestic violence or sexual assault. In over one quarter of cases, the false allegations were made in a child custody case.

“Each year, millions of innocent Americans are falsely accused of abuse,” explains SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook. “These false allegations can strip persons of their assets, harm their families, and ruin their lives.”

Because of these widespread injustices, Cook said, SAVE has launched its Campaign 2012, a grassroots effort to reform U.S. domestic violence laws: http://www.saveservices.org/campaign-2012/

False allegations of domestic violence often lead to family break-up, which forces children into single parent households. Such children face a far greater risk of juvenile delinquency, school drop-out, and teenage pregnancy. One analysis concluded such allegations lead to $20 billion a year in increased welfare and public benefit costs: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/False-Allegations-Harm-Families-and-Children

Although past studies have examined false abuse allegations within specified groups, no national inquiry previously had been made. To this end, SAVE commissioned the national telephone survey, which queried 20,000 households around the country during two rounds in May and September 2011. More information about the survey methods and results can be seen here: http://www.saveservices.org/falsely-accused/survey/

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org.