Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is caused mainly by drug and alcohol abuse, and mental problems. Both are diseases with chartable clinical symptons and a known progression. If you unempower women by telling them that they are trapped, helpless, and can only be free by committing cold blooded murder, you are not doing them a favor. This law allows the summary execution of alcoholics and the mentally ill. A great leap forward, not.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/14718354.htmAbused woman acquitted of murdering husband after second trial
JULIANA BARBASSA
Associated Press
MODESTO, Calif. - Surrounded by family members wearing bright yellow T-shirts emblazoned with her picture, Cheryl Orange was teary-eyed and beaming Thursday, talking about the joy of holding the 10 grandchildren born during the 21 years she spent in jail for killing her abusive husband.
She walked out of Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on Thursday, a day after she was acquitted by a jury that was able to rehear her murder case under a law that grants new trials to battered women.
"I'm finally truly free," Orange said, adding that one of the first things she was looking forward to was a big French toast breakfast. "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus."
Orange, 52, was the first woman to receive an acquittal during a second trial granted by the 2001 law, which allows victims of domestic violence who kill their partners to present evidence of the abuse in court, lawyers said.
"It was certainly disappointing," said prosecutor Carol Shipley. "It was very emotional. What she went through was detailed graphically. Anyone listening to that would've been upset by it. ... We presented evidence that she was as violent as he was, but the jury felt she should be acquitted."
In 1985, Orange was charged with murdering her husband, Frank Orange. She shot him six times with a stolen rifle, but claimed she'd been acting in self-defense. When the jury couldn't reach a verdict, she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 17 years to life.
At the time, her lawyer couldn't introduce evidence that she was in a dangerous relationship with a man whose beatings had landed her in the hospital twice, Orange said.
He locked her repeatedly in the trunk of his car, raped her, threatened her with a knife, smothered her and even trained his pit bull to watch her every move, she said.
One month before the murder, she went to the district attorney's office after a beating, and they documented her injuries, but back then, it was simply her word against his, said her lawyer, Kellee Malone.
Two of the original trial jurors were contacted for the appeal, Malone said. They said the jury had been divided, and if they'd known about the abuse, they might have acquitted her. Those statements were included as part of the new trial, which began May 9.
"This time, everything came out, everything was aired," Malone said. "I'm ecstatic."
Andrea Bible, co-coordinator of the California Habeas Project, which has gone to prisons to explain the 2001 law, identify candidates for release and connect them with pro bono lawyers called Orange's case "an incredibly important victory."
"I hope it'll have an impact on similar cases," she said.
In addition to Orange, 16 women have been released under the law by filing petitions to the judge who convicted them or by becoming eligible through the parole process. Twenty other cases are pending.
In 2004, the Legislature expanded the reach of that law to include victims of domestic violence convicted of other felonies in which the abuse was relevant.
Now, Orange is back at her mother's place, a small home with a lush garden and walls papered with family portraits. She has 11 grandchildren - the oldest is 22, the youngest is 2. Ten of those children were born while she was incarcerated.
She said she plans to take things slowly, first applying for a new identification card, then contacting an organization that helps inmates adjust to life outside and connecting with a support group for battered women.
She said she also has big plans. In prison, she received counseling and became a mentor to other inmates. Now she wants to go to college, and become a counselor herself, helping other battered women break out of violent relationships.
She has the support of the family who waited for her outside, wondering sometimes if she'd ever get out, but never doubting she deserved to be free.
"It's not going to be easy for her," said her mother, Evelyn Johnwell. "She'll have to adjust. But she can stay here as long as she needs to. Now she has all the time in the world."
