Domestic Violence First Stop For Volatile Abuse Cases Domestic Violence Court Judge Referees Cases Fraught With Fear, Mixed Emotions

Two dozen men and one woman march into a Spokane County courtroom in chains and handcuffs. They wear rumpled, dark-blue jail clothes.

They’re the latest batch of people charged with domestic violence for pushing, kicking or slapping someone they had - or still have - a close relationship with.

Most spent the night in jail and clearly didn’t enjoy the experience. Their faces reveal little but annoyance and resentment. They search the back of the courtroom for the person they fought with only hours ago, the person responsible for putting them here.

Six at a time, they take seats on a bench in front of District Court Commissioner Brad Chinn.

A year ago, Chinn was a private attorney, handling civil and minor criminal cases. Now he presides over the first-appearance calendar in domestic violence court. A federal grant pays his $80,000 annual salary.

Chinn, his forehead furrowed, calls the first case. “Cause No. M2314, State vs. Jerrold Carson. Mr. Carson, you are charged with one count of …”

The 30-year-old Carson and the others are facing either fourth-degree assault or malicious mischief charges.

Twenty-six-year-old Anneke Ernst, a deputy prosecutor since July, stands and recites key details of the Carson case. Ernst reports he has no domestic violence record, but there are several “FTAs” - failures to appear in court to answer to driving offenses.

Chinn sets bond at $500, virtually assuring that Carson will get out of jail later that day. The commissioner also creates a standard “cooling-off period,” ordering the defendant to have no contact with his girlfriend.

Two weeks later, Carson comes back and enters a not-guilty plea to the assault charge. He arranges for a private attorney to represent him. His trial date has not yet been set.

What Chinn hears ranges from life-threatening - a wife chased from her home by a drunken, knife-wielding husband - to name-calling affairs that end with a shove or a scraped knee.

In court this morning, few of the alleged victims show up. In some cases, their concerns are voiced by an advocate from the Spokane Regional Domestic Violence Team.

One by one, Chinn moves down the list. Up next is a young woman, accused of throwing a radio at a former boyfriend who came to her apartment to retrieve some of his things.

“Your honor, what happened is …,” the woman begins.

Chinn interrupts, telling her he’s not the one to sort out who did what to whom. In most cases, the defendants return in two or three weeks for a pretrial hearing. That is followed by a hearing about two weeks later to identify which cases are likely to be settled and which will go to trial.

The trial usually is set eight to 14 days after that hearing. Nearly all domestic violence trials in District Court are presided over by Judge Vance Peterson.

After Chinn finishes the 25 cases on the jail docket, he hears a request from a man who appeared before him two weeks earlier.

The man’s attorney, Harlan Boyd, is asking Chinn to remove the “no-contact” order imposed on his client, a 32-year-old mechanic named Eric.

Boyd says Eric and his wife feel the order has served its purpose.

“This is his first offense, and because he can’t be at home, he’s ended up living out of his truck,” Boyd argues.

“This is an isolated, first-time incident. If Eric can’t rejoin his family, there may not be much of the family left when we get to the end of this.”

Chinn sees Eric’s wife, a dark-haired woman wearing a sweater, stand up in the back of the court.

“I really just want him to get counseling, your honor,” she says. “But he can’t go to counseling with me unless he gets to be home.”

Chinn turns to the prosecutor. Since the woman wasn’t injured, Ernst does not object to the request. The no-contact order is lifted.

Afterward, Chinn talks about managing the first volatile stop in domestic violence court. He says it gives him satisfaction that others might not understand.

“My job is to be in the middle of everybody there - advocates, attorneys, the victim and the defendant. I’m the person who looks at it and tries to be fair and neutral. I like this job very much.”

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