Panelists discuss family violence issues at Alexandria symposium
Numa V. Metoyer III put on the best case of his life, as he described it, to convict a man for shooting his wife who, instead of running and saving herself, made a fatal decision to reach for her child.
Though he won the conviction as a young prosecutor, the memories have stuck with him. "I got a conviction. He goes to jail for life, and I still feel like I lost."
Metoyer, a Rapides Parish assistant district attorney who handles domestic violence cases, was answering a question that had been put to three panelists Tuesday night at the inaugural Family Violence Symposium held at the Alexandria office of Louisiana Probation and Parole and sponsored by Faith House of Acadiana. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Faith House, which provides services to victims in seven Louisiana parishes, has been promoting awareness with purple ribbons and other events.
The organization does operate a shelter in the Lafayette area, but panelist Crystal Scrantz, Faith House's program director, says most of those served by the group never go to the shelter. Staff can help victims with safety plans and one-on-one support that's led by victims, she said.
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A crowd of about 30 people, mostly women but at least three men, listened as moderator Debra Faircloth questioned panelists — Metoyer, Scrantz, Avoyelles Parish District Attorney Charles Riddle and 9th Judicial District Court Hearing Officer Preston Mansour — about different issues facing domestic violence victims and survivors.
The symposium was held on the night normally reserved for the meeting of the Victims' Rights Support Group at the office. The group's next meeting will be on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m.
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Riddle, who had to leave the symposium early, recalled being told when he became district attorney that Avoyelles Parish had the highest rate of domestic violence in the state. But, as he attended seminars and training sessions across the state, he heard another DA boast that his parish didn't have any domestic violence cases.
"What it was, was they just didn't prosecute it," said Riddle, who said the parish now "vigorously" prosecutes those cases even though he estimated that about 75 percent of the victims end up recanting.
All four agreed that family violence is a problem in Louisiana and in Rapides Parish. Mansour, who can approve protection orders as the hearing officer, has held his position for about a year and a half. But it only took his first case, which he described as "contentious," to open his eyes.
"I went from being very proud that I had this new position as hearing officer to realizing that this is a serious ballgame that I'm involved in right here," he said. "I think awareness was my big eye-opener to all of this ... This is really going on out there, even though I didn't know about it. It existed, and it's a huge problem."
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Scrantz pointed to statistics that rank Louisiana as the worst or one of the worst states in numbers of women killed by men. She said, nationally, about one in four women will be victims of domestic violence during their lifetimes.
"We're talking about our friends, our coworkers, our family members," she said. It's everywhere. It's happening in households all across the state."
The topic turned to stalking, a crime which the panelists said people sometimes have trouble understanding what actions constitute it. Riddle said that even police officers can misunderstand. Many times, he said, other charges can be filed instead of stalking.
Metoyer, who's prosecuted or helped prosecute about 9,000 cases over eight years, said there's a balance test when considering if a case is stalking or something else. "It's one of those things that you have to look at what the intent is," he said.
And Mansour advised domestic violence victims who have applied for protective orders, but have been denied, to not give up. Scrantz suggested that victims keep a "stalking log," in which they write down all instances and note witnesses and what happened. She also said that victims, if receiving text messages, should reply with a text that tells the other party not to contact them again, "and note that on your log as well."
Both Metoyer and Riddle said victims who do receive such texts should turn their phones over to police when they make a complaint so that law enforcement can retrieve the evidence, which makes it more valuable to prosecutions.
Metoyer urged victims to trust their gut instincts if they believe something is wrong and to not ignore it. "Fear is a gift," he said. "Fear is a gift that is in your instincts and is there to keep you alive."
Faircloth asked the panelists how domestic violence protections apply to same-sex couples. While Riddle said there haven't been many instances of that in Avoyelles, Metoyer said it has happened more frequently in Rapides Parish. He said his office might charge same-sex suspects with a different offense, but would make both parties adhere to the same conditions that any other couple in a domestic violence case must go through.
But, he said, if someone has been seriously injured in a same-sex domestic violence case, laws already exist that would apply to the offender.
Metoyer predicted that, since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling regarding same-sex marriage, states will begin to change domestic violence laws to reflect the new reality.
Scrantz said that Faith House provides the same services to all regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. "We proudly stand with our LGBTQ sisters and brothers because we know that homophobia is rooted in oppression, and oppression is also related to domestic violence ... We stand for all people to be treated with respect and dignity, no matter what their choices are," she said.
As the symposium wrapped up, Faircloth asked each panelist to recall those cases that stood out for them. Scrantz said that, in her 13 years with Faith House, she's known six women and one child who were murdered by their abusers. But she said it's the good things that keep her going, more than the bad.
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"The incredible strength and resilience of the battered women that I have worked with has been so inspiring to me. It has been incredibly humbling, and I enjoy and honor every minute that I get to spend with someone that has been a victim of domestic violence."
For Mansour, it was a mother seeking a protection order on behalf of her child against the child's father. He had to deny the order, and the appeal later was denied by a judge, but he kept track of the case.
Criminal charges eventually were filed in the case. Mansour said he was struck by the father, and how he either lied or was totally oblivious to what was happening to the child.
"It goes to that instinct, that fight or flight," he said. "I really think I knew. I missed out on that one. But it's happened two or three times since then. I didn't miss on those."
Metoyer said the case of the murdered wife is why he and other prosecutors work hard to prevent such domestic violence cases from turning into life-and-death situations.
"Because I know that, there comes a point where even if I put this guy away forever, what have I really won?"