On Thanksgiving day 1992, Tom and his two children were over at his girlfriend's house. They had plans to go to her parent's home for turkey dinner. The day had not gone too well. As the time approached to leave for her parent's home, Tom and his girlfriend Shela, got into an argument. After a short period of time, Tom had enough of the verbal abuse and he decided to leave. Holding onto his 18 month old daughter in his right arm and clasping the hand of his 3 year old son he headed for the front door, where Shela confronted him, demanding her car keys.
Tom tossed her the keys in disgust. They flew on to the front lawn. Shela flipped out and went into a rage. She assaulted Tom. She slapped him and started to hit him. His first thought was to protect his children. After moving them out of the way, he retaliated to get her to stop. Shela ran off.
Tom wasn't sure what to do but he thought it was best if he called the police. While he was on the phone with the police, Shela came back into the house. After telling the police that he had been assaulted, Tom gave the phone to Shela and took his children home.
Nine months passed. During this time Tom was never contacted by the police or the prosecutor's office.
Without warning one day, Tom was hit with a subpoena to appear in court for assault. It appears that the police and the prosecutor's office had concocted a case against him. They did this without any other witnesses, and without even asking Tom for his side of the incident.
Because of his financial condition he was appointed a public defender. A trial was held. Tom was found guilty of assault. Sentencing was held in early February 1994. Tom was "lucky," he got a two year deferred sentence and 100 hours of community service.
Beyond the distinct issue of the value of one's word, there are two other issues in this particular case that also point out additional prejudice against men.
First, when Tom called 911 for help, the tape-recording (of which I have obtained a copy) clearly shows that he claimed to have been assaulted. The tape also clearly shows that there was no effort on the part of the 911 operator to believe Tom. After Shela returned and spoke on the phone, the 911 operators' response was completely different. The 911 operator was trying to make a case against Tom and clearly went beyond the bounds of objectivity.
Second, on the day of sentencing for Tom Jenkins, this reporter was in the court room. As the judge was outlining the sentence to Mr. Jenkins, I clearly heard her say that Mr. Jenkins "over reacted to being slapped" by Ms. Hart.
Well, I am sorry if I offend the judge, but how much physical abuse does a man have to take before he is allowed to defend himself and his family from an assault by a woman?
Can you imagine the same thing being said to a woman if she were assaulted while holding her children?
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