The city, however, has gone ahead with prosecution. Why? Because the no-drop policy is a response that finally takes the onus off of the battered.
Over the years, the justice system has been designed and refined to protect those suffering from domestic violence. As pointed out by City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, up to 90 percent of abuse victims later recant or alter statements about their attackers. Terror fuels the transformation - fear of retaliation, monetary support or even loss of a vacillating love-hate relationship.
Domestic violence is a crime fraught with conflict and emotion, forgiveness and rationalization. Complainants - mostly women - change their stories readily when faced with the frightening possibility that their assailants - mostly men - will go free and continue to stalk and batter them. These women know that the system cannot guarantee 24-hour protection so they back-pedal on their statements. On the other hand, many victims convince themselves that abusers can be reformed, or that the beatings won't happen again.
Carvalho is no stranger to domestic violence. In 1991 he was convicted of the fatal beating of his wife, Cathie. It was a particularly gruesome crime, and his manslaughter verdict instead of murder conviction sparked community outrage. Carvalho spent eight years in prison before being paroled in 1995.
Although his past doesn't prove his present guilt, police and prosecutors must take the initial charges made by Pacheco at face value. If not, the system goes back to the days when victims were forced to instigate criminal prosecutions. That is why we have prosecuting attorneys.
Rupert E. Phillips,CEO
John M. Flanagan,Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro,Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang,Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner,Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser,Contributing Editor