43
Domestic-violence court helps, but can't save all victims, Warren judge says
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
One of the challenges of helping women protect themselves from abusive men is that the women have to be willing to assist prosecutors handling the case against their abuser, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor says.
“The only way to stop these is to break the cycle of violence. A victim must follow through. It’s tricky for them,” said Gabe Wildman, who has been prosecuting felony-level domestic violence cases in Trumbull County for about 10 years.
“Many times, victims will change their story or lie,” he said of what they tell prosecutors or judges later about the incident when it’s time to decide if they are willing to testify against their attacker.
Some of the reasons they refuse to follow through are “love, kids, marriage, money, mortgages,” Wildman said.
And the situation doesn’t appear to be getting better. When he began prosecuting domestic-violence cases, about half of victims were uncooperative; now, it’s about 90 percent, Wildman said.
Judge Thomas Gysegem of Warren Municipal Court runs the court’s specialty domestic-violence court. Culver, 27, of Howland, was convicted in Warren Municipal Court three times of domestic violence and one time of assault on a girlfriend – all since 2007, when he was 18.
Culver’s most-recent conviction was last fall, when he was convicted of domestic violence against his girlfriend, Jessica Crowder, 36, of Hamilton Street Southwest. He got two months in the county jail.
He had been convicted in that court of domestic violence against a different female in 2013 and went through Judge Gysegem’s domestic-violence court, meaning he attended 26 sessions over one year to receive counseling and learn about the impact crime has on victims.
Judge Gysegem and Atty. Gil Blair, who prosecuted the 2015 case, say notes in the docket indicate that Crowder was not following through and not severing ties with Culver because she apparently declined to have the court issue a protection order to keep Culver away from her.
Culver killed Crowder on June 24 at the house where she lived with her mother and two children. Culver had been staying at the home for just a few days, though they had been dating for about three years, a family member said. After shooting Crowder, Culver fled to a nearby abandoned home, where he fatally shot himself as Warren police closed in.
“A lot of times, they believe the man will change. A lot of them love the man. They just want the abuse to stop,” said Linda Baer Bigley, legal advocate supervisor with Someplace Safe, Trumbull County’s domestic-violence shelter.
It’s common for women to want their abuser to be placed in an intervention program to force him to get help with a drug or alcohol problem.
“A lot of them feel if he doesn’t do drugs or drink, he would be all right. But domestic violence is about power and control and not about drugs and alcohol,” Baer Bigley said.
Even though Culver, as a repeat offender, could have been charged with felony domestic violence the last time, municipal prosecutors are reluctant to send a case to the county grand jury for felony indictment if they don’t believe the victim will testify to the grand jury or follow through afterward, Baer Bigley said.
Wildman noted that a felony case that concluded last week involved William J. Riley, 55, of Niles, who was convicted of felonious assault and felony domestic violence against a woman. He broke bones in her face by assaulting her, but she pleaded with Judge Ronald Rice of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court not to send him to prison, saying he has an alcohol problem.
Riley could have gotten 91/2 years in prison, but instead he got five years’ probation, including a requirement that he successfully complete a program of between six months and a year at the Northeast Ohio Community Alternative Program, a lock-down facility.
The incident that led to Culver’s most recent domestic-violence conviction didn’t involve bodily harm to Crowder. The two had split up a week earlier, and Culver saw her in a car with another male in late September and sideswiped their car, forcing them off of the road. But Culver had threatened to kill her recently, she said.
On Jan. 1 of that year, Culver had punched her in the face while they were in the car, causing severe, dark bruising on her face and an orbital-bone fracture. She had hand prints around her neck, Warren police said.
Warren Municipal Court shows no record of charges having been filed in that matter.
Culver posted on his Facebook page the following July, saying, “I try to love you, but I always AM wrong no matter what.”
Crowder replied, “you act like you are this perfect guy although everyone knows wat u r about.” In the next post, she told Culver she loved him.
Judge Gysegem said he thinks the domestic-violence court is making a positive difference, even though it isn’t going to cure every abuser, just like drug court is not going to cure every drug addict.
“Is it 100 percent [successful]? Absolutely not,” Judge Gysegem said. “I believe Culver tried, and Crowder evidently believed in him, because she stayed with him, and it cost her her life.”