Judge: 'I made a decision that had the most tragic result possible'

[Psihala]

More than a week after the controversial death of Laura Russell, Jefferson County Indiana Superior Judge Michael Hensley has released a statement in explaining his decision as it relates to the incident.

http://www.9news.com/news/judge-i-ma...ible/338166922

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

IOW, the cops filling out the paperwork screwed up, by not putting in sufficient probable cause information. Maybe they need training.

Seaboe

[DawnStorm]

I was thinking the same thing Seaboe--someone didn't do his NFBSKing job and because of that someone is dead and this judge has that death on his conscience. I hope the new procedure I read about will help other victims.

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by Seaboe Muffinchucker

IOW, the cops filling out the paperwork screwed up, by not putting in sufficient probable cause information.

I'm not sure how you're getting that. The statement doesn't say what information the judge had; only that the judge didn't think it constituted probable cause. I can't tell whether that's because the information about repeated stalking wasn't in there, or whether it was in there but the judge didn't think it sufficient.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

To get an arrest warrant, the cops need to fill out paperwork for the judge, stating who they want to arrest and why. The judge then evaluates that information to decide whether there is probably cause to issue the warrant.

So, if the judge didn't have the information he needed (in light of the information the article says was presented to the cops), then the cops filling out the forms screwed up.

Seaboe

[thorny locust]

True. And if the judge did have all that information, but nevertheless thought that it was insufficient, then the judge screwed up.

I don't see anything in his letter or in the story to indicate which one of those things happened.

[RichardM]

One thing I did not see and maybe the judge did not see it either. That is evidence of previous violence. That may have been a factor that the judge thinks if important.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by RichardM

One thing I did not see and maybe the judge did not see it either. That is evidence of previous violence. That may have been a factor that the judge thinks if important.

The warrant was to arrest him for felony stalking, so I don't know why that should matter.* But in any case:

From the OP article:

Police said 44-year-old Laura Russell and her husband, 51-year-old Anthony Russell had a history of domestic violence, and Laura had a no contact order.

*ETA: The whole point of making stalking a crime was to provide a mechanism for victims to gain legal protection before the stalker hurts or kills them.

[Onyx_TKD]

Originally Posted by RichardM

One thing I did not see and maybe the judge did not see it either. That is evidence of previous violence. That may have been a factor that the judge thinks if important.

From the article:

According to court documents, Anthony was arrested and charged with strangulation, domestic battery, and interference with reporting a crime in August. Laura filed for a received a no contact order the next day.

There was apparently enough evidence of violence for him to be arrested and charged on those grounds on a previous occasion.