Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, a former prosecutor who is co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Friday that state law requires police to investigate family violence without a complaint from a victim.
Also, Lawlor said he was perplexed by the state criminal charge for an event that happened in April 2005, because he believes the statute of limitations on DeLuca's alleged crime is just one year.
"I don't know what really happened, but the concern I have is why, if police are receiving complaints about domestic violence, under Connecticut law, they must make an arrest even if the victim does not file a complaint, even if the victim does not want to press charges," Lawlor said. "So I'd be very curious as to why the local police department didn't make an arrest if they got complaints about domestic violence."
1 comment:
CT newsjunkie post.
Posted by: info | June 2, 2007 10:22 AM
Sidenote to this on domestic violence arrests:
Here is a quote from the Hartford Courant story on DeLuca "Sources close to DeLuca say that the despairing senator had brought photos of his bruised and battered granddaughter to the police, but they wouldn't do anything because the granddaughter refused to file a complaint against her boyfriend."
He brought photos of bruises to police?
Here are three lines from a report called "Police Response to Crimes of Family Violence: Model Policies, Procedures and Guidelines" Revised through June 2006, contributing agencies: Office of the Chief State's Attorney, Police Officer Standards and Training Council, Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Page 11: "Arrest Guidelines," Subhead: "Prohibited considerations"
"The decision to arrest should not be influenced by the following: 1. the specific consent or request of the victim (conn generals statutes 46b-38b(a))
Being spurned by police three times and being a member of the legislature, isn't DeLuca familiar at least in passing with family violence laws and guidelines? Couldn't he visit state's attorney's office to complain or get another opinion if charges could be brought? Could he not consult a lawyer about the possibility of getting police to press charges instead of going to some shady character? Why should we have any faith in a system when the general assembly's ranking Republican, who appoints to the committees that chooses judges and prosecutors, seemingly has none? Should we believe DeLuca? Watberury Police? Who? END
Maybe DeLuca was worried his bruised and battered granddaughter would get arrested too, considering Connecticut police are obsessed with making what are called "dual arrests" in domestic violence cases, topping the nation in the category and probably setting the record for criminalizing more victims of crime than any other state.
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