05Aug

Keep your mouth shut…..

My story starts on a day I went for a motorcycle ride, and returned home early to find my wife at that time, was packing up the house in my vehicle and attempting to leave. Her and I had been separated for over a year, and not living in the same house. I had no issues with her taking anything from the house, but had a huge issue with her taking my vehicle to do so.

I pulled into the driveway of our house, and parked my motorcycle behind the truck, and went inside to find out what was going on. She informed me that she was taking things and leaving, and didn’t want to fight about it. I told her to remove the items from my vehicle and I didn’t care what she took. I then went to use the bathroom, in which time, she had come back outside and removed the motorcycle from the driveway, and started backing up the truck. I came out of the bathroom, into the garage and yelled “HEY!” to get her to stop. At this point, she didn’t hear me, so I picked up a trash can from the kitchen and threw it at the truck, hitting the hood and getting her attention.

I ran up to the truck and opened the door, telling her to get out of the truck, over and over again. She then started to back up, so I grabbed the steering wheel and door and held on. We hit the curb across the street, and the truck stopped, so I reached inside and turned the truck off. I then told her to get out a few more times, and after no compliance, I put my hand under her arm and pulled her out of the vehicle.

At this time, she ran to the front door, called 911, and told them she needed the police. I pulled the truck forward, and started removing the items from the back of the truck, and once I finished, walked past her and into the front door of the house. As I walked by her, she exclaimed something along the lines of “don’t hurt me!”

The police showed up and questioned us both for over an hour. I told the police nothing happened, I removed her from the truck, and put her items in the yard to be removed however she wanted, but not in my truck. Back and forth they asked us questions till I told them “I didn’t call you… she did, so whatever she said happened, happened….” Again, the officers went back and forth asking questions, and I kept saying I was done talking till they asked me one final time and I sarcastically said “What do you want to hear, that I threw her on the floor and stomped on her face??? Look at her, she’s a bloody mess….”

She was not bloody, she was not hurt, and the only things they could find on her were scratches on her inner arms from holding boxes and moving wooden crates.

I was taken into custody, and released the next day after posting bail. I was removed from the house (where she did not live anymore), and had to move in with my brother for the next couple of months.

When I went to court, I was waiting outside the courtroom for about an hour before seeing my public defender for the first time. No previous contact from myself or my PD was ever attempted. He informed my the judge was in a bad mood, and that he was throwing people in jail all morning. The public defender told me that my best bet, being that I had no previous convictions, was to plead no-contest, pay some fines, go to some classes for battery intervention, and within a year of completion, all this would be behind me and not on my record. I pleaded no contest.

After 9 month of probation, I was informed that I was release early and could resume my normal life. I thought all was well until a few years later when I moved back to my home state and applied for a new job. It was denied because of a domestic battery charge. I then attempted to have the situation resolved but was informed that the case was past it’s time for me to dispute the charges, and that I was stuck with it for life.

I have attempted expunging, sealing, and now am attempting clemency all without luck. This affects my life, and my livelihood, as well as my chances for accepting positions at companies with morality clauses. It has caused me employment issues at least 3 times in 7 years. I would like nothing else than to have this removed, or the system cleaned up to where a NON-violent action is not looked at as if I beat my ex-wife to near-death. I feel my case is a perfect example of the judicial system taking things too far.