• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Alliance for Hope International

(0)Login
Login

Escape

Social iconSocial iconSocial icon

    • About Us
      • Our Team
      • Our Board
      • HOPE Rising Award
      • Lifetime Achievement Award
      • Join Our Mailing List
      • Annual Reports
      • Conference Hope Survey Reports
    • Our History
    • Training
      • Conferences and Events
      • HOPE Hub
      • Privacy Policy
      • Online Resource Library
    • Programs
    • News and Media
    • Shop Now
    • Donate
      • Check us out on Guidestar
      • Supporters
      • Conference Supporters
    • Contact Us

    • Blog
    • News & Media
    • HOPE Hub
    • CFJCN
    • SHOP Now
    • Donate
    • AFHI

    DA Presses for Bill to Prevent Domestic Violence

    December 17, 2013

    The legislation also increases penalties for a defendant on an assault and battery charge who violates a judge’s order not to contact the victim as a condition of release on bail. Currently, a defendant is subject to increased penalties only when the assault and battery occurs in violation of a restraining order, according to Ryan.
    “Right now the legislation does not provide for violation of the court order, a stay away order, to be an aggravating factor. This bill would remedy that,” she said. “This bill would say that if you have been ordered by the court to stay away from the victim and you, in fact, violate that order, commit an assault and battery, that will be an aggravating factor. It just increases the number of aggravating factors.”
    The legislation gives prosecutors more tools to recommend higher sentences, and gives judges more discretion in sentencing, without creating mandatory minimum sentences, Ryan said.
    Ryan is pushing for passage of four domestic violence bills, according to a spokeswoman. “It is part and parcel of a broader review of domestic violence legislation to increase penalties and discretion in sentencing that began when the DA took office,” spokeswoman MaryBeth Long said.
    Ryan testified before lawmakers in July on a handful of bills, including one to create a new crime of strangulation and strangulation with serious bodily injury. In October, the Senate passed a domestic violence bill that included the strangulation measure. The bill is awaiting action in the House.
    In August, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office was criticized for how it handled the case against Jared Remy, who was in court on an assault and battery charge two days before he allegedly killed his girlfriend, Jennifer Martel, a case that has spurred a reexamination of laws intended to prevent domestic violence.
    Remy was arrested for allegedly slamming his longtime girlfriend into a mirror, and the DA’s office was publicly criticized for not asking a judge to continue to hold him, based on a past history of domestic violence charges, or ordering him to stay away from Martel following his arraignment.
    In the wake of Martel’s murder, House Speaker Robert DeLeo asked Attorney General Martha Coakley to partner with him in looking at the state’s restraining order laws.
    Dykema, who filed the bill in January, said abusers often have a history of violence before the domestic violence incident that should raise a red flag.
    The bill recognizes if the defendant has a past history of violent behavior, they would be eligible for increased penalties on the domestic violence charge, Dykema said.
    Dykema told the News Service the issue hit close to home for her after a Westborough mother was murdered in a domestic violence incident several years ago. After the woman’s death, she worked with former Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone, and then Ryan when she took office, Dykema said.
    One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, Dykema said.
    “The most frustrating thing I hear from the public when you read these tragedies in the paper, there is a clear history of violence. People ask themselves, and I ask myself, why weren’t we able to recognize this…to discern the clear signs. This (bill) allows us to recognize those past patterns of behavior.”
    Read more: http://www.wickedlocal.com/northofboston/news/x348816417/DA-at-center-of-Remy-case-presses-for-bill-to-prevent-domestic-violence#ixzz2nkrTRtmf

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    Top Articles

    • Strangulation in sex can increase risk of stroke and brain injuries, distressing study finds
    • read more »
    • Strangled Victims Need Imaging
    • read more »
    • What Parents Need to Know About the Choking Game
    • read more »
    • Choking someone is often prelude to future homicide
    • read more »
    • Strangulation and Domestic Violence Murders
    • read more »

    Join Us Now & stay informed

    • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

    our programs

    Nfjca Logo 2018 1
    Trainingiinstitute
    Cha Logo V12.28.18 2
    Justice
    Voices

    Logo Footer 501 W. Broadway, Ste A #625, San Diego, CA 92101 (888) 511-3522 | 1110 Hemphill St. Fort Worth, TX 76104
    © 2022 Alliance for HOPE International. All Rights Reserved. Design by TinyFrog Technologies.

    Login

    Lost Your Password?
    Register
    Don't have an account? Register one!
    Register an Account

    Registration confirmation will be emailed to you.