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SUZAnn" II. Jam ••••

December

1997

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HamihoJl1l

District AttorneyKansas Third Judicial District

Suite

214 •

Shawnee County Courthouse. Topeka, Kansas

66603.:i922

Telephone:

(785) 233.8200

Ext.

43:iO •

Fax:

(785) 291.4909

Firsi"'AFl8islnnl

Uip'lrir,l All()rf1f~v

Jail W.

Meinecke .

AS8il'lonl Di~lricl AUorncyfl.

AUlenD E.

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BIT"':.

A. Brown

Naney S. BmmMlo~

Edward M. ColllUO

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Cynthia

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MortonKAt.MriM K. Murra,.Alexandra T. NRU)'en

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Ms. Claudine DombrowskiPO Box 304Lamed, Kansas 67550

. • . .

_.,

Dear Ms. Domj,ro~ski

.'-

The purposes of this letter are to acknowledge receipt of your letter and to respond to theissues you rai~cd 'within that letter. From your general tone, it appears .as if,you may beinvolved with son\e'sort of support group for domestic violence victims which, if true,

I • ..• ., • ••

could be a very constructive step. .

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certaInly agree with you that the cnmInal JustIce system is generally underdeveloped In

its handling and broad.based understanding of domestic violence issues and dynamics.Shawnee County, however, has the Kansas model program in that we've accelerated thecourt hearing process, provide immediate assistance and safetY planning information forvictif!ls and p~nishment\ as well as oppOrtunities for behavior inodificati6n forperpetrators. This model program is not perfect, however. But

must tell Yoll>thatmanyof the problems'related to it pertain to the parties failing to abide by no contact orders.victims who tak~ the offend~r back and offenders who won't stay away from vi~tims ..~.

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After receiving your letter last\veek:

discussed your complaints and observa~ions wi~hthe two Assistant District Attom.eys who handled the the' array of cases involving you and,Hal, and I'werit th-rough-our, records Unfortunately, I foundnumcrous inconsistencies ~

.,'

between the statements you made' in your letter, the coUll records and the recollcctions of ~the ADAs." --,. - ; -.' . , , '. - ."Let me say at thcoutset~ihat

have

no doubt whatsoever

that you were iii an abusiverelationship. that's quite clear. But in fairness to all parties. you;Haloand us . it isn'tnearly as clear who initiated many of the conflicts which necessitated police intervention.Wc havc as many policc' rCpOrts'naming_ you as a suspect as we do with Hal as thesuspect. There were several instances in which we might have charged

hoth

'df you butelected to file against Hal only. " "

The police report re the crowbar incident you cited states that

you

were the party with thecrowbar when police arrived. Neither

the attorneys nor the police have any objective

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means of detennining who did what to whom in the absence of corroborative evidence,and we must be able to prove in court the truthfulness of the allegations beyond areasonable doubt. When therc

evidence suggesting the complaintant may have actedproactively in a violent situation as opposed to reacting defensively, it makes our job atbest difficult and at times Impossible.There was also an instance in which we were able to obtain a rare prosecution withoutvictim testimony because the victim - you - failed to appear as ordered to testify in court.Many Kansas victim advocacy groups mistakenly believe Kansas law allows for domesticviolence prosecutions when victims fail to appear lor court simply because it's been donein a few other states. Unfortunately this is usually

not

true in Kansas, and most of thetime we have to dismiss domestic violence cases if the victims fail to appear for courtonly to see that same victim again in a few days, weeks or months.The ADAs also remembered that you initiated contact with Halon several occasionsfurther weakening - for court purposes - the position that you were truly frightened of him. Victim-initiated violation of a no contact order - for whatever reason -

never

helpsus Wincases.It's been my experience that recovery from any trauma requires honest introspection andrecognition of the roles each party played. Please understand that I'm not condoninganyone's criminal conduct here. Domestic violence

a crime(s) and perpetrators shouldreceive both punishment and an opportunity to change their abusive behavior. Ideally,repeat victims should also receive counseling to gain insight into the reasons why theyrcmain with batterers, why they select batterers as partners and how to avoid making thesame mistakes over and over again with the goal toward assisting the victim to seek outand develop healthy, VIOlence-free relationships. You appear to be headed in thatdirection, and all of us here WIshyou the very best of luck.Please call me any time if you'd like to discuss this further.Sincerely,SU7.anneJames

. .

,; ..

0ecember 16, 199'l

Suz.an.'"'le

.Ja;r~s

Di~ector

cf Victim

Se~ViLeb

District AttorneyKansas Third Judicial Dist'LctSha~mee Cou~ty Courthouse, Ste, 214

Topeka, KS 66603-3922

Dear Ms. James:My name is Jan Doran, and I am writing to you in regards to yourDecember 1, 1997, correspondence to Ms. Claudine Dombrowski.I am a long-tilllefriend of Claudine's and her daughter, Rikki, Myfriendship with Claudine predates her relationship with Mr.Richardson. As her friend, I watched with great concern thedevelopment of the relationship with Mr. Richardson. It quiCklybecame clear to those of us who cared about Claudine that therelationship with Mr. Richardson

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not healtt~ and in fact wa~placing her vary life in

qrav~

danger. As her ~riend, I attemptedt.o help her any way that I could. This assistance includedappearing

court even when Claudine was Imable to do so.

personally was present in February 1995, when thp. DistrIctAttorney's office was "...able to obtain a rare prosecution withoutvictim t.estimony .,." (Page 2 of your letter dated December 1,1997). I was ready and willing to testify to my knowledge of

the

course of events that formed the basis of 95CR836. (A revlew ofthis file shows that one of the special conditions of Mr. Richard-son's bail ~9reement. was no contact with my person and/or home,;In February of 1995, Claudine seemed unable to break free from th~relat.ionship with Mr. Richardson. Thl~ inability caused me greatsadness, and even greater fear. Fear for Claudine and Rikki. 'could only standby and offer SUpport and a safe haven when theopportunity arose. It wasn't until February of 1996, that Claudinewas finally able to escape the cycle of abuse and violence thatformed the basis of the relationship with Mr. Richardson. At thattime, Claudine fled to the Batte.red WOlDen's Shelter where she andRikki resided for about two weeks. Then Claud ine obtained a smallapartment I at.ed onl three blocks from my residence. On tneevening of rc 1996 1 received at wy residence (3261 S~RandOlph, Apt F, phone number (913)267-7823) " phone call from