Report Cites Errors By DA's Office in 'Sadly Predictable' Murder of Estranged Wife
Miscommunication, judgment errors and policy violations by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office helped create a situation in which it was possible for an abusive husband to murder his estranged wife, an internal report concludes.
It has caused dismay both in the office and among domestic violence experts nationally, because the death of 37-year-old Monica Thomas-Harris might have been prevented if the system had worked, according to the Los Angeles Times. As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, the murder has been described as “sadly predictable.”
Curtis Bernard Harris, 34, kidnapped his estranged wife early this year and killed her at a Whittier motel before committing suicide. He had already been sentenced to prison after kidnapping her and threatening her with a stun gun in an earlier incident (there was another prior incident as well). But, despite a probation office recommendation that he not be released, a plea deal allowed him to go free prior to beginning his sentence, the newspaper recounts. Additionally, no one warned her that he had been released.
Among the reforms now planned are enhanced documentation in case files about potentially dangerous defendants, so anyone taking over the prosecution is aware of the issue.
“I’m just sick reading about what happened behind the scenes,” Alice Slaughter, whose daughter worked with Thomas-Harris, tells the newspaper. “There was an assumption made throughout the case that Monica wasn’t going to show up in court. They [prosecutors] were in a hurry to get an early disposition in the case and so they let him out of jail. But they never talked her.”
Additional coverage:
Whittier Daily News: “DA slams its handling of case”
