Courts, state soft on domestic violence

I wanted to write a letter to expose the Bonner County Court system and its soft approach on perpetrators of domestic violence.

The reason I am writing this is because I was a victim of abuse by a repeat offender who was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery. The charge was reduced to disturbing the peace as part of a plea deal and the defendant received no time.

Not only was this a rendering of injustice but his lawyer was also able to ensue in a smear campaign on me as the victim — without any viable evidence of his account — while his abuse toward me was well-documented and the prosecutor’s office was provided with 40 pages of documentation including pictures, etc.

Bonner County Magistrate Court Judge Lori Muelenberg allowed for this. She allowed his attorney to sit and make mockery of the courtroom. She allowed for a person with three separate offenses to sit and slander a survivor of abuse. She allowed for me to be re-traumatized by the abuser who I had escaped by allowing for him to claim I stalk him and therefore the no-contact order issued by the state should be dropped. Fortunately, my request to leave it intact was granted but aside from that I felt as though I was the one on trial.

This person will re-offend. This person is a ticking time bomb and has been continuously slapped on the wrist for extremely violent behavior towards women. This person has attempted to choke me, and threatened to stab me. He has slapped me, bitten me, shaken me, thrown me into walls and pulled my hair.

ROBYN SIEGLE

Spokane