GUEST COMMENTARY: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: JUST A FAMILY MATTER?

Of the myriad of information reported about O.J. Simpson's alleged murder of his ex-wife on June 12, 1994, the most disturbing fact to me, if true, was the report that when O.J. Simpson was arrested in the late eighties for beating Nicole Simpson, it was the eighth time police had responded to his home for a domestic assault, but only the first time they ever arrested him. The other seven times, they agreed with him that he shouldn't be arrested because "it was just a family matter."

Well, yes and no. Domestic violence is a family matter. But it is also a crime.

I like to think that had O.J. Simpson and his wife been living in Cape Girardeau County during the course of the abusive relationship, there is a real possibility she would be alive today. I say this because in 1989 Missouri passed a mandatory arrest law for domestic violence cases, and it has been vigorously enforced in our jurisdiction.

Under the mandatory arrest law, a police officer responding to a domestic violence scene is encouraged to arrest the person he has probable cause to believe was the "primary physical aggressor." The suspect is immediately removed from the home and remains in custody for up to 20 hours while the prosecutor decides what charges to file. If the officer does not arrest the suspect, he must make a detailed report explaining why he did not make the arrest and must file it immediately. If a second incident of abuse occurs within a twelve-hour period, the officer must make the arrest the second time.

The mandatory arrest law was passed in an effort to stop the "cycle of violence" that exists in most homes where domestic violence occurs. In the typical example, the husband punches the wife, and she reports it to the police. He then begs for forgiveness, promises it will never happen again (probably believing the words as they come out of his mouth), and she forgives him and asks that charges be dismissed. Tension then builds in the home and a few months later culminates with another batch of bruises and contusions.

The cycle goes on and on, beatings followed by reconciliation followed by more beatings.

Captain Steve Strong at the Cape Girardeau Police Department once told me that prior to 1989 he was able to mark his calendar with near certainty that on a particular weekend of each month, specific individuals in Cape Girardeau would beat their wives again.

He says his future-telling career has been curtailed because the mandatory arrest law appears to be working.

Now, in Cape Girardeau County, when a man pulls back his fist in anger, thinking about hitting his wife, he must consider the fact that he will almost certainly be arrested and sit in jail for up to 20 hours, at a minimum, in addition to whatever additional punishment or counseling he later receives through the court system.

Many men are deciding not to throw that punch.

Mandatory arrest works.

In Denver, which has had a mandatory arrest law for several years, the recidivism rate for spouse-abusers is below 17 percent. The rate is between 50 percent and 60 percent in cities where arrest is optional.

A test program conducted in Minneapolis proved that mandatory arrest cuts the number of repeat offenses. Police responding to domestic violence situations did one of three things: (1) They either arrested the suspect; or (2) sent the suspect away from the home for 8 hours to cool off; or (3) counseled the suspect at the scene, but let him stay. Suspects who had been arrested repeated the offense within 6 months in 10 percent of the cases; the figure was 19 percent for those sent out of the home and 24 percent for those counseled at the home.

The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has a "No Drop" policy on domestic violence cases. In criminal cases, it is the prosecutor's decision whether to proceed with a case, not the victim's. The prosecutor must consider all of society in making his decision, not just that one particular victim. In perhaps as many as ten percent of domestic violence cases, the victim changes her mind a few days after the assault and wants the prosecutor to dismiss the charges. Because we recognize the existence of the cycle of violence, and because we want to do something about it, my office will not routinely drop charges just because the victim now wants them dropped. Most victims, when we explain our policy and the reasons for it, still cooperate with the prosecution of the case. They explain to the abusive spouse: "Honey, I tried to get that jerk of a prosecutor to dismiss it, but he wouldn't." Most people who beat their spouses plead guilty. We get guilty pleas 80 of the time.

No one can say for sure that Nicole Simpson would be alive today if California law had required mandatory arrest back when O.J. Simpson assaulted her the very first time. It can be said without doubt, though, that in a mandatory arrest jurisdiction, Nicole Simpson's husband would not have gotten the impression from the police that beating his wife was just "a family matter."

Maybe that would have made a difference on June 12, 1994.

Morley Swingle is prosecuting attorney for Cape Girardeau County.