The woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, was held in the general population at the county jail — the same place where the rape suspect, Keith Hendricks, was housed. There, the suit says, she was misclassified as the perpetrator of a sexual assault — not as a victim — attacked by an inmate, denied medication and punched in the face by a guard.
Jane Doe’s treatment amounted to “an absolute deprivation of her personal integrity,” her lawyer, Sean Buckley, said in an interview Thursday. “As a rape victim, the psychological trauma she experienced was an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and helplessness.”
“And if you take out the sexual violation itself and you look at the underlying psychological trauma,” he added, “this is exactly what these defendants did to her again while she was still in recovery for her rape.”
According to the suit filed Monday in United States District Court in Houston, the woman began testifying in December against the man she said had choked, beaten and raped her two years earlier. The woman has bipolar disorder, the suit says, and did not finish her testimony.
In what the district attorney later called “an extraordinarily difficult and unusual situation,” because of concern she would not return to the courtroom, a judge had her locked up until the trial resumed, even though she was not charged with a crime.
It was an unusual and risky decision that raises questions about the treatment of people with mental health disorders in the Texas justice system and about the wisdom of jailing someone already victimized and traumatized by a suspect the district attorney called “a serial rapist.”
Advocates for sexual assault survivors also said they feared the case could have a chilling effect on other victims’ willingness to speak up.[...]
The woman was sent to St. Joseph’s Medical Center for 10 days after she broke down on the stand, the lawyer said. There was no follow-up after she was released from the hospital, and she was handcuffed, arrested and sent to jail on Dec. 18, Mr. Buckley said.
During that time, the woman was taken to the courtroom to testify against Mr. Hendricks. He was convicted and sentenced to two life sentences without parole. A judge allowed her to go home on Jan. 14 — 27 days after she was jailed.
In a video statement that has been uploaded to YouTube, Devon Anderson, the county district attorney, said the rape victim had suffered through a life-threatening mental health crisis and had expressed her intention during the trial not to testify again.
“If nothing was done to prevent the victim from leaving Harris County in the middle of trial, a serial rapist would have gone free, and her life would have been at risk while homeless on the street,” Ms. Anderson says in the video. [....]
Mr. Sullivan said the woman would have been placed in a separate cell had the court ordered that she be kept separate from the general population, but no such order was issued.
The lawsuit says that when the woman was processed, she was accidentally classified as having committed a sexual crime, leading to negative treatment from the jail’s medical staff members who didn’t believe her protests.
She was in at least two physical confrontations while in jail. On Dec. 23, an inmate pushed her to the ground and repeatedly slammed her head into the concrete floor, according to the lawsuit. On Jan. 8, she suffered “an acute psychiatric episode,” the lawsuit says.
The prison guards’ response caused her to have a panic attack, during which “she became hysterical and physically uncontrollable,” the suit said. At one point, a guard punched her, causing a bruised eye socket, the lawsuit said.[...]
Does the ends justify the means?
ReplyDeleteA true miscarriage of Justice
Just nuts.
ReplyDeleteI thinkthe judge should be sued.
ReplyDeleteAmerican law gives complete immunity to all, the judge, the prosecution, and probably the prison. Maybe the hospital but need more information.
Essentially, they tortured her. Are we allowed to torture an innocent to ensure the imprisonment of a major social threat? and when that innocent is the threat's past victim, kol shekein? This judge has swallowed current discourse of justice as social engineering, forgotten the duties their robes, and should be impeached/disbarred.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the Jewish Frum relevance of this post? Does it belong here? Would Rav Sternbuch approve of this video being inserted here? Reb Daniel, as you know, kvodo bimkomo munach but I can't see the point of this, or any other posts that don't have a Jewish relevance.
ReplyDeleteIt has a very Jewish relevance. The major attack on rabbis by the Adovocates - and Yehuda Pogrow is that rabbis at best know nothing and at worse coverup the issue of abuse. Such a position ignores the reality of what the police and the justice system are in the real world. This is an extreme example of what the justice system can do to a person in the name of justice. That is why there is a need for community leaders and rabbis and parents etc who know what abuse is and also understand how to work within the system. This is the justification for organization such as Ma'aneh and Jewish Community Watch. The secular system needs an interface to be able to get its benefits
ReplyDeleteI was told by a policemen never to report abuse to the Boro Park police station because nothing will ever come from it. That other police stations are better but the best is to contact the sex crimes division directly. Many police are insensitive or too busy. There can be major prolbem of trauma produced not only by questioning by the police but half-competent social workers connected with child proection services. There are even incompetent therapists out there in insist that they can handle abuse cases - but just increase the trauma and charge for the malpractice.
There is very little if anything which doesn't have a Jewish connection and relevance. Stick around for a while and you will learn something
I can't believe I agree with you on something.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the answer. Sure, as you can tell, I do plan to stick around and opine on matters I feel are relevant or irrelevant. You have much more experience then me in what you do. I still don't see the connection and personally don't like the video (which I haven't watched) on the post, but it's your blog... I'm just a willing commentator.
ReplyDeleteHow can you "not like" the video if you haven't watched it?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's a video that should be present on a blog called daattorah, which gets its guidance from Rav Moshe Sternbuch. It's a simple question of hashkafah.
ReplyDeleteRav Sternbuch provided extensive guidance in the beginning of this blog when I was dealing the Tropper scandal. But at some point said he felt that I knew when to ask for guidance
ReplyDeletehttp://daattorah.blogspot.com/2009/12/3-belzers-blogger-trying-to-understand.html
Daas Torah is not the Agudas' Daas Torah nor is it trying to keep up with what is politically correct in chareidi circles.
Daas Torah is simply a range of views which are considered legitimate Torah views or activities which can be justified through Torah.
I know in certain circles a video itself is not acceptable, especially if it is of a woman and even more so if it is dealing with a topic such as rape.
This blog is not written for those circles
On what grounds do you object to the video? Considering that you don't know what it contains.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the DA, the judge followed the law as written. Your argument is with the law, not the judge.
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ... the blog is very much written for those circles. If the blog posts about Rav Kaminetzky, Rav Greenblatt, Rav Kanievsky speaking about Rav Gross, if you quote Hadrei Haredim, Kikar Shabbos, the mashgiach of the Yeshiva in Yerushalaym, etc... if you are not writing for the chareidi public, albeit not exclusively of course, but if you are not aiming for the chareidi readership than who are you speaking to? who are you asking to pressure some of the aforementioned rabbonim into reversing their Heter? You can't possibly be starting a campaign on chareidi rabbonim by enlisting everyone else BUT the chareidim... What good will it do you to report on Rav Kanievsky's views of Rav Gross's sefer if no one from that group is reading what you post?
ReplyDeleteIf there is no to'eles than it's simply loshon horah, which I don't think is the case because through your efforts YOU ARE TRYING TO ALERT AND EDUCATE THE CHAREIDI TZIBUR. Unless I haven't understood at all what your blog is about.
When you broke the Tropp story who were you trying to alert? Whose attention were you calling? The chareidi establishment.
As I've said before, I do see a tremendous point in what you do and admire you for that, previous posts of mine are a proof of that, but I feel that your response above is, on this occasion, off the mark.
I do feel your blog is ALSO aimed for the chareidi readership, or it would not serve its true purpose.
As such, I do think that the sensitivities of the chareidi leadership must be taken into account.
I'm all in favour of you going to town on issues of interest and, as already demonstrated by 99% of your posts, that CAN be accomplished without using something that should be avoided in chareidi circles.
As always, this is said with the greatest respect!
Best!