Testimony of Lady Kathryn Williams

Transcription

1 Testimony of Lady Kathryn Williams Senate Democratic Conference Public Forum on Domestic Violence May 30 th, 2012 Good morning to Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Assemblymember Gary Pretlow and the Honorable members of the Senate Democratic Conference. My name is Lady Kathryn Williams- Julien and I am a Domestic Violence survivor and an HIV/AIDS advocate. I am testifying today to speak about the importance of the DV Survivors Justice Act and how many lives will be empowered by it. I met my husband Maxwell when I was eight years old and when I was fifteen, I married him. One year later I gave birth to our first child. The marriage was grand. Perfect husband. Perfect father. Maxwell became my family, he became my everything. All of my self-worth came from this man. We were together for 18 years. The abuse started when we both lost our jobs. We came home and drank, which led to arguing. He was suddenly twisting me, hitting me, and I didn t know why. I saw my dad hit my mom, and I witnessed my father-in-law hit my mother-in-law. So, my interpretation was that it was okay for a husband to hit his wife. Once he got another job and I was a housewife, the violence became more frequent. I was content with being a housewife for three years, but then I wanted to go back to school. He told me I couldn t. I disobeyed, took the entrance exam, and got in. One day at school, he showed up in the 1

2 parking lot. He pulled down my dress and embarrassed me in front of everyone. I was scrambling, trying to hide behind cars, so no one would see me. It was humiliating. You get used to patterns of violence. I was eventually able to tell from his behavior when he was going to get violent. I knew that if his voice was raised, there would be profanity, and then there would be hitting. He also started to say a lot of hurtful things. He would say things like, You re not that pretty. I don t know why I married you. I don t know why I had children with you. It got to the point where I wished he would hit me so that he would stop saying all of these things. This went on for seven years. Calling the police was like calling no one. Maxwell had family members in the precinct. Whenever the police were called, they would tell him, go for a walk. The only time he was arrested was because a new policeman was on duty. The new policeman took Maxwell into the precinct for a few hours. When he got home, he was only more furious. Only thinking about his pride and not how bad I hurt, he beat me. While he was hitting me, he screamed, What are you going to do? They are not going to do anything, as you can see I am back here. I could kill you if I wanted. One of the beatings was so bad I was in the hospital for two months. He was able to conceal the patterns of abuse every time he hit me by bringing me to a different hospital. Every time I went to a hospital, he was sitting right next to me. The nurses never asked if he hit me. The times they did ask what happened, I always lied. The first person I told was my mother. She told me, What happens in your household stays in your household. I made the mistake of telling someone in my church, and Maxwell found out. His response was, Don t you ever again in your life go outside of this house and tell anyone what goes on in this house. This is my house, and I do whatever the hell I want. In 1995, he slung me down a flight of steps, and I broke my ankle in three places. I had a fractured wrist and a dislocated shoulder. While I was recuperating from these injuries, I stayed with a friend. He came over, and I asked for a divorce. When I got home, he beat me so bad. I thought 2

3 he was going to kill me, but he didn t. One day he had gotten suspended for drinking and was waiting for me. I walked into the house, and he immediately pounced on me. He said, Bitch where the hell have you been. He grabbed me and slung me against the wall. He began choking me. I was able to break lose. We started struggling and rolled down the hallway. When we got to the kitchen, he had both of his hands tightly wrapped around my neck. My vision was blurring and everything was going dark. I couldn t breath. I was fading and beginning to black out. I just reached out and found something. At the time, I didn t know what it was it was, but it was a little steak knife. Trying to get him off me, I stabbed him. He finally let me go. And I just ran. I ran all the way out of the building. I looked back only one time to see him chasing me. I ran onto the street. I saw two of my friends, and I said Oh god I just stabbed Maxwell. I hope he doesn t kill me. Police came from everywhere. They grabbed me, and threw me up against the fence. They took me to the police station, but did not tell me he was dead. I kept asking about my husband. The first officer told me he was in the operating room, another told me he was in the recovery room, and then one told me he was fine. I was not made aware of his death until I went to central booking and they called my name. They said the charge was murder in the first degree. I was in complete shock. I had no idea my husband was dead. When I finally regained some clarity, I was taken to Rikers Island. No one knew. They didn t contact anyone. The district attorney portrayed me as a drug-addicted woman who had gone on a killing spree. He never mentioned the abuse, that we were legally married, or the police records documenting the abuse. During my first trial, the grand jury kept hearing conflicting stories. The DA kept saying one thing while my friends gave a different story. Although I had close to 75 injuries, the DA said only two of them were suspicious. When it came to the abuse, he kept using the word allegedly. 3

4 During questioning, the DA asked, If he was beating you all the time like you allegedly say he was, then why didn t you leave? My friends, neighbors and teachers at my children s school painted a different picture. There was one witness who said, I don t know a lot about domestic violence, but I know he used to beat her up a lot. While the DA represented me as a violent, drug addicted woman, my public defender didn t show any initiative. My first lawyer never really spoke to me or asked what happened. One time, he even mistook me for another client. To him, I was just another number. My trial ended in a hung jury. After the hung jury, I was assigned an 18-b lawyer. It was only during my second trial, when STEPS to End Family Violence stepped in, that domestic violence issues were properly raised. After 80 days of being detained in jail, my brother introduced me to STEPS, an alternative-toincarceration program that helps women defendants with histories of abuse. STEPS did their own investigation into the abuse. They worked with my new lawyer, and helped convince the DA to change his position. During my second trial, I was asked questions I could answer, and not ones that made me feel like it was my fault. The DA agreed to charge me with manslaughter in the second degree, which was a reduced charge from the original one. This charge does not carry a mandatory prison sentence like the charge I was facing the first time around. I pled guilty and was sentenced to five years probation, conditioned on my participating in STEPS alternative to incarceration program. I am very grateful for STEPS. STEPS pushed for alternative to incarceration treatment, because they felt that mental health services would be the best treatment for me. Not medication as a remedy, but time to heal, recollect and reflect on what happened. When I first entered STEPS, I had no hope. But, through the program, I met other women who were experiencing the same emotions as me, who came from a past marked by abuse. After completing their 8 week program, where I worked on self-esteem issues and building confidence, I found my voice. 4

5 It was only because the District Attorney lowered the charge that I was able to get an Alternative-to-Incarceration program. A Judge should have the power to make this type of decision and send someone to an ATI program if they think it is the most appropriate sentence. I am not saying I or anyone else should be exempt from responsibility if we committed a crime, but please take into consideration what led to that crime. Find out what factors led to that crime, and while they shouldn t be exempt from accountability, the court should take into consideration what led them to take those actions. From being a victim to becoming a survivor, alternatives to incarceration give a second chance to those who have been brutalized. What happened to you is not going to go invalidated, or unheard, or spoken to deaf ears. Love, kindness and respect, these should be the main values that guide our society, and the DV Survivors Justice Act can help orient the criminal justice system in that direction. Thank you for allowing me to share my concerns and issues and being empathetic to my personal tragedy with domestic violence. I was fortunate even to have intervention from a Higher Power and I invest in that belief on a daily basis. May I end by stating Thank you GOD 5