That’s the show I never new I wanted, Bob Newhart as a judge. Perhaps he’ll be around long enough to be a walk on as a retiring judge The Night Court soft reboot.
Onto the original topic: I was on the edge of my seat watching the video. That was a good catch on the prosecutor‘s part. I hope additional social services are offered to the victim.
This prosecutor is a hero in every sense of the word. I hope that her firm and her bar association recognize her as such.
Secondarily, the ability of the judge to retain his composure is remarkable. I would have been angry as hell.
Flipping through the rest of his channel it seems like it’s a regular cast of characters.
The judge doesn’t usually get to witness the crime he’ll be adjudicating later.
Sure, could also be that it’s a town of 11,000ish thousand that’s less than three miles end-to-end with the police station pretty much in the center.
I wonder how many people will be now tuning in on the 16th.
I have to wonder if he’ll recuse himself and bring another judge in for it.
I don’t think she’s actually the prosecutor. I googled her and she’s a divorce/family law attorney in private practice. The local news described her as “assistant to the prosecuting attorney and representing Lindsey”:
As a family lawyer, she’s probably very well attuned to abuse/intimidation situations. That doesn’t make this any less impressive, though. Just confirms that she’s probably really good at her job. Which was further confirmed by her measured “Also that wasn’t hearsay” line after the defense attorney’s asinine objection.
Am I the only one getting a Lancel Lannister vibe from the name/your picture of Laurel Lance?
I didn’t watch the video, but isn’t there also the possibility that someone- the judge, bailiff, or her attorney- direct messaged Lindsey in a chat window, prompting her to “signal for help” if she needed it. Chat seems like a relatively safe one-way communication channel to her, assuming the guy isn’t watching over her shoulder or mirroring her screen.
I recall an incident where a woman phoned 911 to order a pizza and blithely continued over the operator’s protestations, until the operator caught on something was wrong (which took about two seconds) and started asking yes/no questions that the woman could safely answer without arousing her abuser’s suspicions (“Is there someone there with you?”, “Are you in danger from them?”), finishing off with the “delivery” address.
I just want to derail on this slightly, not to defend him, but the part about the threat of violence being the only reason a victim would go along with something like this. There’s a whole mass of abusive behaviours that fall under coercive control which can lead to this kind of Stockholm Syndrome. Might be a psychological threat rather than a physical one, but it’s one where we need to be aware of it, and let victims know it doesn’t require a physical threat for them to be valid.
Just saying. As of right now, the word “prosecutor” is misspelled at least 3 times in the post above.
Might be nothing, but around 6:05, Davis’s eyes start moving rapidly, then get wide for a split-second around 6:10. I’m wondering if that’s around the time she noticed something wasn’t right.
The real cherry on top of the “this dude is a piece of shit” sundae here is the “I knew the cops were outside” bit he throws in in his defense.
Yes, you were caught lying about witness intimidation, to a judge, in real time. But admitting that you didn’t know about the police outside, even when it would probably help your case if you HADN’T, well that’s just a step too far. A man has a code, and that code is never admitting to any weakness or tactical mistakes in any circumstances. The “I meant to do that” of the criminal variety.
The judge says Deborah Davis represents the “People,” which is the state, and refers to her as “the prosecutor” throughout and at the end. I see what you mean; she does appear to be a private attorney elsewhere, but she’s representing the state here (I think that article is just imprecise). Possible she’s appointed as a special assistant district attorney/state’s attorney for domestic violence cases. There’s often an attorney who just focuses on DV.
That makes sense.
There’s a comment on YouTube. Who knows if it’s actually the prosecutor, but there are a few other comments that make it sound like it’s not a trolley.
Deborah Davis 1 day ago
Obviously I can’t say much, but we had reason to believe the Defendant was at the apartment (which is a bond violation), and so we had the officers standing by to arrest him in the event at the conclusion of the hearing Judge cancelled his bond. It’s a very serious case, and I was going to ask for the bond to be canceled…but then it became clear that SHE might also be there. Sturgis Police Department did an amazing job, and for that I am very grateful.
Deborah Davis 1 day ago
I didn’t take it that way at all, I don’t have any worries about that. But I appreciate your kind words, I made a tough decision to leave my successful private practice of 14 years to take a full-time job at the Prosecutor’s office. It was a tough decision, as I have loved my private practice, but there was an unusual turn of events in 2020 where the elected Prosecutor was unable to work, I came in as a part-timer to help, and I fell in love with the job. Weird how life works, right!? I’m hoping that this brings attention to the vicious cycle of abuse that exists, and gives hope to victims of domestic violence that we will support and protect them.
Those comments answer a lot of questions. Maybe we should have more family lawyers turned prosecutors!
