IN the movie "Sleeping With the Enemy," Julia Roberts plays Laura Burney, a beautiful woman with an ugly existence. Her controlling husband, Martin, tells her what to wear, when to have sex, what to cook and how the house should be kept. Kauai stalking case
has unhappy endingWhen Laura gets him angry, Martin slaps, punches and kicks her. Then he apologizes, bearing flowers and presents, and murmuring chilling endearments like, "Nothing can keep us apart."
Laura is an inmate in her own home, imprisoned by her fear of Martin's brutality and by the knowledge that the so-called "system" of protection probably can't help her.
One night, she fakes her death in a boating accident and escapes to another state. Laura finds a new house, job and soul mate. She is exquisitely happy.
Then Laura notices little discrepancies in her seemingly safe existence. The towels in the bathroom have been rearranged to hang just the way Martin liked them. The canned goods in the pantry become neatly stacked and face forward, just as he demanded. And his favorite music is on her CD player.
Laura freaks. She realizes that Martin has found her. He had been inside her home. The threat of retribution is real!
Segue for a moment from Hollywood art to Honolulu reality. This month, a federal court jury heard the case of Michael Sanders, the first person to be tried in Hawaii under the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. One of VAWA's provisions prohibits the crossing of state lines to violate a temporary restraining order.
In July of this year, despite a TRO that his then-wife, Mary Beth, had obtained against him in New Mexico, Michael came to Kauai to see her. She had run away from him months earlier and had filed for divorce because, according to the government's trial brief, Michael was very much like Martin.
During their marriage, he had slapped Mary Beth, pulled her hair and kicked her in the back, knowing that she had suffered a herniated disk. He talked to her like she was a dog and called her by the name of the family pet.
Like Laura, Mary Beth ran away and thought she had found a haven on the Garden Island. But on July 4, as she was walking the beach at Haena, she saw Michael standing about 20 yards away. Before he could say or do anything, she screamed, ran into the house and called police. He drove away.
When officers arrived, Mary Beth was a wreck. She told them about the TRO against Michael, and that he had beaten her up before. This guy had been so obsessed with a possible reconciliation that he had repeatedly called her family, friends and co-workers in attempts to track her down. Now, he had.
AT the end of the movie, Martin never bothers Laura again. In real life, as opposed to reel life, Mary Beth wasn't as lucky. Last Thursday, the jury in Judge David Ezra's courtroom acquitted Michael Sanders of violating VAWA. Some jurors told reporters that they couldn't convict the defendant because, although he crossed state lines to see her, he didn't talk to her or "touch" her.
Get the message? Despite a federal law prohibiting harassment, it's OK with at least one group of jurors to follow and stalk a victim, just as long as she isn't physically confronted, maimed or killed. How ironic that Mary Beth is being penalized for escaping Michael's clutches. She is again on the run from her ex-husband, who is a free man.
Know how she feels? Imagine having a TRO against someone but coming home to find that person's slippers -- right outside your door. Taste the fear.