Attorney Henry Hilow is a very bright and competent defense attorney … one not prone to making rash statements he can’t back up. So when he says that a woman a client of his is accused of committing domestic violence against claims she is not a victim, the police internal affairs unit and prosecutors probably should listen. Suspended Second District Patrolman David Anderson, a seven-year veteran who is currently in custody, has plead not guilty to the charges.
“She has made it clear from the beginning that she wasn’t a victim, and she maintains that to this date,” Hilow said. As the line from an old Richard Marx song goes, “It don’t mean nothing, “no victim, no crime.”
But that doesn’t mean that Anderson isn’t a dangerous man who, if found guilty of the charges against him, should not be allowed to carry a gun in the City of Cleveland. But when he was first arrested for domestic violence, then-police union boss Jeff Follmer bailed him out of jail … in spite of the fact the charges included aggravated menacing, menacing by stalking, and abduction.
According to published reports of the original charges, “Anderson attacked his girlfriend three times on consecutive days, beginning Dec. 13, when he shoved her to the ground, causing her head to strike the pavement and knocking her unconscious. In the ensuring days, Anderson shoved her to the ground outside their home on South Hills Avenue in Cleveland. And on the following day, he kicked in her bedroom door, chased her down the stairs and shoved her to the landing, where her head was bloodied, prosecutors contend in court documents.”
Yet, the woman who is (or at least was) Anderson’s 43-year-old live-in girlfriend now claims she’s not a victim, which means she probably has no intention of testifying against her obviously brutish lover. So back to the “no victim, no crime” … which of course could make it exceedingly difficult for prosecutors to make a case that sticks. The burning question in my mind is: How did police and prosecutors find out about all of this alleged ass-kicking in the first place … if she didn’t tell them?
I have a friend who is a retired Muny Court judge and she said that on many Monday mornings the city prosecutor’s office would be half full of women swearing out domestic violence complaints against their boyfriends or husbands, but by the time the case got in front of her, most of the “victims” wanted to recant and drop all charges. The salty taking judge laughingly told me the joke among court personnel was, “damn, he must have sexed her up real, real good last night!” Indeed.
But this clown Anderson, even after being ordered by the judge to stay away from the woman as a condition of his bail, immediately began calling her upon his release. The prosecutor told the judge that he had obtained evidence that Anderson had committed 240 violations of the no-contact order with the victim since his first arrest Dec. 15 on the original charges. Anderson immediately began calling the victim — “essentially every day, several times a day” — Schroeder said in the motion. The calls lasted for a total of more than 35 hours.
But again, these were not one-way conversations … she was answering the calls and talking to her alleged abuser. But what some folks don’t get is that some women (and men too) actually like being physically abused. Psychologists say that it goes back to their childhoods, when parents were beating the hell out of them, all the while telling them how much they loved them.
In this latest incident, Prosecutor Christopher Schroeder said in court that, “Anderson and his girlfriend caused a scene during a loud dispute at a Chili’s restaurant where they had gone to eat dinner Saturday. Anderson followed his girlfriend into the women’s lavatory and forcibly led her out of the restaurant while gripping her arm. Restaurant employees were concerned for the woman’s safety, and called police. Anderson later surrendered to police and was arrested.” Now his silly ass is sitting in jail under a $200,000 bond. I wonder if the current police union boss, Steve Loomis, is going to once again bail him out.
This is a man who clearly has little or no respect for the law, and just as clearly views himself as being above it. He can’t even control himself enough to avoid violating a judge’s order … how can he be trusted out in the streets with a badge and gun? Nonetheless, the way our flawed criminal justice system works (or fails to work when a cop is involved) no one should be surprised if David Anderson one day is back out on the streets of Cleveland armed and dangerous … and that prospect should frighten the hell out of everyone.
When Frank Jackson talks about our broken criminal justice system that fails to hold cops accountable, this case could be a prime example at some point down the road. True, Anderson might not ever be convicted of any crime, and he’s entitled to the same presumption of innocence as any other citizen — but this case certainly bears watching.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.