DA Probes 'Sadly Predictable' Murder; Victim Never Warned of Spouse's Release
New details have emerged in the case of a California woman murdered last week by her increasingly abusive husband, and the district attorney’s office in Los Angeles County reportedly is investigating why the prosecution not only didn’t oppose but actually recommended his release on his own recognizance as part of a plea deal.
They also are looking into why, in violation of standard policy, Monica Thomas-Harris was never warned of her husband’s planned release, reports the Los Angeles Times. As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, the Los Angeles County Probation Department had described Curtis Bernard Harris in a written report as “unsuitable for release” and a victim’s rights advocate called the murder-suicide that resulted “sadly predictable.”
In a written statement, district attorney Steve Cooley says “the tragic murder of Monica Thomas-Harris is a matter of great concern,” and promises that his office will investigate to determine “whether there were any violations of office policy and/or failure to follow procedures established for these types of cases.”
Pamela Booth, a supervisor in the district attorney’s office in Pomona, Calif., tells the Times that the case concerns her because of the “pattern of escalating violence against the victim” that Harris displayed before he was arrested for twice holding his wife captive in November 2007. (These incidents are detailed in the earlier ABAJournal.com post.) Prosecutors reportedly are upset about the Los Angeles Superior Court case and began meeting Monday about the murder, which was discovered Saturday, to try to determine what went wrong.
“They are looking in the mirror. What did I do? What could I have done differently. … These are all very dedicated people,” Booth says.
