Okay you legal beagles, pop quiz time! Self-defense is notoriously fuzzy in the domestic violence context. Skepticism of spousal self-defense spans back centuries, and that skepticism was actually codified until as recently as 1993 (when Oklahoma and North Carolina became the last states to eliminate the “marital bed” exemptions to rape laws). In a recent Tennessee case involving alleged domestic violence and self-defense, Wife was indicted for the first degree murder of Husband. The 24 hours before the shooting were interesting in that they were somewhat narrated by a series of text messages between Wife and the couple’s adult Daughter (who lived elsewhere). Let’s take a peep at those texts, shall we? And they went a little something like this (Hit It!):
- Day 1 Text Messages from Wife to Daughter…
- 0930: Please come to the apartment.
- 1030: The police just left.
- 1045: You have got to get your stuff. Dad is losing it. [Then Daughter came to parents’ house, exchanged a distant salutatory nod w/Dad who was working outside, and chatted briefly w/Wife; otherwise all seemed okay, Daughter left.]
- 21:15: Dad and I are fine. Please don’t worry about anything … It’s back to normal for the night. I’m working tomorrow and you got the items out of the apartment that he likes to threaten or break. He moved on to threatening me now … ha. I think he is going to bed and I am tired too. Love you lots.
- Day 2 Text Messages from Wife to Daughter…
- 0900: Please call Nana, your dad has attacked me again.
- [Then Daughter came back to the house and found that Wife had shot Husband dead.]
Wife stands trial and claims self-defense. The only proximate “witness” is the text messages. Let the games begin.
Now, of course there were lots of other issues that weighed for/against Wife’s self-defense claim (including testimony from Husband’s mom that Wife was manipulative and violently jealous). But for now, I’m looking at the texts in particular. In this day and age, we are recorded more than ever, and usually with our explicit or tacit consent (or even by our own participation or at our behest). Even the biggest privacy advocates who claim to be “off the grid” still consent to a host of invasions every time they run a Google search. But as people get more tech savvy, mass communication (and mass documentation) can be both a sword and a shield (hey, kinda like guns!). It’s an interesting area of law and social policy that the courts are only just now starting to tackle.
In the Wife’s case, how do her text messages help her self-defense claim? How are they problematic? What can we learn about digital messaging, social media, and otherwise recorded conversation? And finally, does Wife go free? Stay tuned for more soon…
Option 3 Counselor if I were the investigation officer I’d certainly make all of the TM’s and cell phone records a part of my case file. I’d also interview all neighbor’s, review and include all 911 call histories and review any prior police reports pertaining to the couple in question. But in the final analysis the TM’s would be a small piece of the puzzle. FWIW my suspicious mind is pinging on some thing here.
Very thorough, good sir!
I voted for option 2. The daughter’s potential testimony that she saw nothing amiss when she visited the house makes the texts look less credible. Assuming that there is no other evidence about the decedent’s history of violence, the texts and the daughter’s observations about the scene when she arrived are a wash as far as helping to determine guilt. Of course some specifics of how the wife is manipulative could swing the pendulum back towards guilt.
Ah, the (in)famous pendulum swing. A lawyer’s best friend or worst nightmare.
I’d have to vote “other” since I simply don’t have enough info yet.
I’ve been witness to (and unfortunately, in the middle of) this kind of “he said, she said” before. It’s always ugly. There is a reason why cops hate (HATE!!) dealing with domestic calls. You could spend days figuring it all out.
She says-The husband is an angry violent man.
The mom says-The wife is a manipulative *****.
The daughter says-He beats her and threatens to kill her.
He says-She’s cheating on him.
She says-He’s cheating on her.
The daughter says- He drinks too much and beats people.
He says- She’s taking drugs.
—-Enough! I’m taking you all to jail for giving me a headache.
(that’s why I’m not a cop, I’d never make it through the day without going Tackleberry on someone)
Seriously, though, in this situation, I think the texts begin to lay out a story–whether by design or not, I don’t know. Were I on this jury, I’d be very interested in the remainder of the story, and the texts in the weeks/months prior. I’d be interested in knowing if this kind of behavior (the texting with the daughter after an incident) happened a lot, or was used as pretext (ha, see what I did there!) for a planned revenge in this instance.
If she texts all the time, and has multiple histories of having been beaten/attacked, I’d find her texts in this case to be more credible. If she doesn’t have a history of texts after previous incidents, then it looks more like a set up. Of course, there are tons more things to consider (like perhaps they just got the phones and didn’t have the ability to text prior to this, etc) but that’s my take on the texts.
Regardless, if the husband was a known wife beater, jurors may find it hard to convict. Especially so, if there were prior attacks that sent her to the hospital. Hard to convict a lady for defending her life if she was previously beaten so badly that she was hospitalized.
Ha! I like the “everybody goes to jail” option! This is the blessing and the curse of self-defense law. Juries — very rightly — have the power to decide who’s telling the truth. The good thing is it’s juries and not monarchs. The bad thing is there is always that small chance that with a good story, a sympathetic face, or a convincing text message, if there are no other witnesses a person can literally get away with murder.
“Going Tackleberry” – LOL 🙂