Lenient sentences for abusers send a scary message

MICHIGAN -- You might have heard about Timothy Tucker, the 51-year-old Kalamazoo County man sentenced recently for beating his girlfriend, then repeatedly striking her with a 2-week-old puppy, killing it.

Tucker's girlfriend ended up in the hospital, and she said at his Jan. 20 sentencing hearing that she couldn't see for a few weeks after the beating.

"I was hurt, scared in my own house, being attacked in my own house," she was quoted as saying in the Kalamazoo Gazette. "I'm still scared and I shouldn't have to feel like that from someone I cared about, someone I loved."

This is the sixth time Tucker has been convicted of domestic violence, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting told me last week. His office charged Tucker with felony domestic violence (third or subsequent offense) as a habitual offender. Sentencing guidelines call for a maximum penalty of 7-1/2 years in prison. The animal abuse charge was dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on the domestic violence charge.

But Tucker didn't go to prison.

Ninth Circuit Judge Alexander Lipsey instead sentenced him to six months in jail with 63 days of time already served. He'll be out by summer. He also was ordered to four years of probation under a relatively new program in Kalamazoo called the Swift and Sure Sanctions Probation Program.

"I was not willing to promise him he would not go to prison or into the Swift and Sure Sanctions Program," Getting said. "I was not willing to promise him any consequence. The judge was. ... At the hearing, we argued to the judge that Mr. Tucker deserved to be put in prison. We asked the court for a prison sentence; the court chose to do something other than what we asked for."

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To many, that sentence sent a message: You can beat a woman over and over and over again — with a puppy, no less — and still avoid prison.

"It is absolutely sickening and ridiculous," said Nicole Beverly, a survivor of domestic violence from Ypsilanti who now advocates for victims. "We want to draw as much attention to this case and judge as possible."

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Camilla Robarts, director of the counseling program at HAVEN, an Oakland County agency that offers support, counseling and advocacy for victims of domestic violence, says the message also is one that will discourage other victims from coming forward.

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"I definitely think it sends a message that says domestic violence somehow is to be treated as a reduced crime; it's not as serious in some way as other crimes, particularly violent crimes," she said. "I think there's an element of victim blaming that goes along with it, that somehow the victim is to blame for a part of it, therefore the sentencing is reduced or it's not looked at as serious."

Judge Lipsey said last week he could not comment on this case specifically because it's ongoing, and cautioned that outsiders should not question a sentence without knowing the complexity of the case.

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He sang the praises of the Swift and Sure program, noting that in a case like Tucker's, even if he'd issued a 7-1/2 year prison sentence, most inmates are released after two years in prison for good behavior. By being sentenced to four years of probation under the Swift and Sure program, men like Tucker are supervised longer, and have the chance of being rehabilitated.

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Swift and Sure cuts the red tape that can take the teeth out of the usual probation process, in which it can take months to see the consequences of violating the terms of probation, he said. Instead, people who break the rules of their probation are arrested quickly, and return to court for resentencing within 48 hours. They also are drug-tested and monitored more closely than other probationers.

Lipsey said: "Here are the rules: If you sign up, you are abiding by these rules, and there is a sure punishment if you break the rules. If I have somebody sentenced to Swift and Sure, I know that person will be supervised for four years. Hopefully, he will make those changes as a probationer."

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What concerns Beverly is that although it's a vast improvement that 48 hours after an offense a person is arrested and back in court under Swift and Sure, two days is still a whole lot of time to abuse a woman.

"I hate to be pessimistic about this program, but knowing what I know about domestic violence and the lack of rehabilitation, it's hard not to be," she said. "The main thing about this case in particular is how many chances this man has been given.

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"I would understand probation like this for a first-time offender, or a second-time offender a lot more than a six-time offender. The rate of domestic violence and people not rehabbing, and getting six, seven or eight chances is ridiculous. Look at this sentence. I don't understand the sentencing guidelines; they need to be changed."

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Gov. Rick Snyder signed new legislation earlier this month to form a criminal justice commission to examine sentencing guidelines in domestic violence cases, among others. The Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence was asked to name a person to join the commission.

Kathy Hagenian, executive police director for the coalition, said the group is eager to take part in the process, adding that sentencing is crucial.

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"It does send an important message not only to the victim in that case, but to the perpetrator and to the community, which means that it is incumbent upon anyone in the system who has a role in sentencing to look at the complexity of what's happening and to take into account the impact on the victim of the crime, and also the abuse that has happened in the relationship," she said.

Robarts said it's not easy for abuse victims to report their attackers, and when they learn about lenient sentences like Tucker's, it makes them all the more reluctant.

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"Their fears center on: 'Will people believe me? Will they think that this is serious? Is this really serious? And will anybody protect me or will it be worse?' " she said. "And so I think the fears ... are validated in many ways, through what happens or doesn't happen as a result," Robarts said.

"When there's a slap on the hand, it ... I think we're sending a message that says that this is really not that serious. It further validates a victim's feeling of being alone and not being helped in the way that she needs."

And that's a problem.

(Detroit Free Press - Jan 31, 2015)