I am a BIG advocate for domestic violence. So this story struck me as being extremely odd.
Judge's Dismissal Of Domestic Violence Case Sparks Outcry
Victims' rights advocates are crying foul about an Anne Arundel County judge's decision in a domestic assault case.
Circuit Judge Paul Harris acquitted a man accused of striking his girlfriend three times in the face. A police officer testified to seeing the assault at a Laurel gas station. But the judge said that without the woman's testimony, he could not be sure that she hadn't consented to the attack.
At a hearing earlier this month, Harris told the prosecutor that he couldn't rule out the hypothetical possibility of sadomasochism in the case.
Harris said the jury instructions for the charges say that it must be proved that "the defendant's actions were not consented to by the victim."
The attack happened in June 2006 and prosecutors were never able to find the woman to testify.
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