CASE UPDATES
Batterer convicted
of murder in circumstantial strangulation homicide
Thanks to the work of the Kirkland PD defendant
Cushman was convicted of Murder and felony violation of a DV order in the death
of Amy Hargrove. This was a complex circumstantial strangulation murder
detailed in the Seattle Times with a compelling fact inadmissible
at trial as the victim “had taken out a protection order pointing police
to her ex-boyfriend in the event anything happened to her. “A piece of
paper isn’t going to save my life when he finally gets me,” she wrote in the
court document, “but at least you will know who killed me.” The case could not
be filed immediately but Kirkland Detectives worked tirelessly to solve the
case and hold Cushman accountable.A just outcome thanks to Kirkland PD Detectives Jonathan Ishmael, Adam Haas, Tyler Davidson,
Mark Brown, Ray Bressler; Dave Quiggle; Deana Lansing, Jim Kissinger, Greg
Jamison; Todd Aksdal; Kirkland Officers Chuck Pierce, Kyle Farrell, Brian
Farman, and Analyst Kristina Shull.
Serial batterer pleads to 5 years in prison
Defendant Yar-Mohammad abused his girlfriend for years. He
tampered and abused her so she recanted. When the victim asked for the NCO to
be lifted she had a fresh black eye. Thanks to investigation by KCSO the
tampering and abuse was discovered, defendant was taken into custody, and the
victim agreed to participate in the case. Defendant pleaded guilty to
four counts of felony Assault and one count of violation of court order, and agreed
to 60 months in-prison. Special thanks to KCSO Detective Ben Wheeler, Deputy
Michael Noren, Matthew Paul, and Jason Houck for their work.
Police uncover secret family marriage leading
to abuse and rape convictions
A Seattle Police investigation of a DV misdemeanor assault where
the victim recanted due to intimidation by defendant Noor led to discovery of a
secret family marriage: victim was a teenager forced to marry Noor-her Uncle,
taken to the United States, where she was repeatedly abused and raped. Defendant was found guilty of Rape, Intimidating, Assault, multiple violations
of court order, and Harassment. Noor was sentenced to 172 months (indeterminate)
for his crimes. Special thanks to Seattle Police Detective Jeff Page,
Maurice Washington, and Officers Nathan Patterson, Derek Ristau, Roger Rusness,
Kyle Squires, David Lindner, Mark Mullens, Buckley Jones, Lorisa Johnson, Kyle
Hay, Benjamin Frieler, Bradley Dupleich , Christopher Caron, and Demethra
Behn.
DV offender sentenced to 8 years for history
of abuse and presence of child
Thanks to the work of Kent PD Mauricio Garcia Gomez was held
accountable. Kent received a child abuse report and learned the mother
was being abused. Kent earned the mother’s trust and unearthed years of
abuse: broken bones, strangulation, cuts with a knife because it “felt good”,
repeated beatings causing her ear to be deformed, and use of a homemade
whip. The result was multiple felony DV assault convictions but a low
standard sentence range of 12-14 months. Again thanks to Kent PD’s work
there was strong evidence for the history of DV aggravator and child present
aggravator. See DV newsletter from Winter 2015. The court imposed
96 months (8 years). A big thank you to Kent PD Detective Melanie
Robinson, Detective Gonzalez, Detective Gee, and Ofc. Lyndon Baron for their
work.
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TRAINING
OPPORTUNITIES AND COMMUNITY EVENTS
KCSO & REFUSE TO ABUSE
1500 runners at Safeco Field raised $150,000 for DV prevention in the Refuse to Abuse 5k. Congratulations to KCSO Sheriff John Urquhart, Chief Jim Pugel , team Captain Detective John McSwain and many others for fielding the largest law enforcement team.
September 8th and 9th @ Seattle University
This year's Symposium has sold out with more than 700 attendees registered! Special thanks to all in law enforcement taking time to attend.
 Reflections from the Field
July Facebook post by Seattle Police DV Detective Jen Samson (reprinted with permission)
I don't talk much about work and I try not to get too political but today, things were brought into perspective for me. Given all that is happening in the world… Terrorism, hatred, murders of my fellow police officers, all of the political BS, it all dimmed today. I went out with my partner to visit a victim of domestic violence. It was an immigrant family, poverty level, barely getting by. There were four children under the age of 11. The youngest being three and four. They, too, had felt the hand of their abuser. The youngest was running around outside with no shoes on, dirty and scraped up. Their diapers were so full, they were hanging down to their knees.
As my partner interviewed their mother, I spent time with the kids trying to win their trust. It took no time at all. It wasn't long before the little girl was raising her arms for me to pick her up and the little boy with bruises on his arms, was reaching for my hand to hold. He would point to his bruises and gesture so I would kiss them. He would do it about every so often, so he could be comforted. The youngest played with my earrings and touched and caressed my face.
I asked the mother if she had food and diapers and she said no. My partner (who wants to remain nameless) and I went to Safeway and my partner bought food and diapers for the family.
When we pulled back up to unload the groceries, everyone from the house came out to help carry the food in and you could see the children's faces light up. The little one kept saying "banana!"
As we started to wrap things up and say goodbye, the little ones had their arms around my legs and kept giving me hugs. The youngest started to tear up and was waving at us from the gate. It was tough. Both of our hearts hurt driving away today.
I LOVE my job. I LOVE helping people. I LOVE that I can touch lives. I LOVE that I get to work with men and women who feel the same. I will always fight for what's right and I LOVE my country. Sometimes we need to just sit back and count our blessings and pray for those less fortunate. ❤ Step up and help when you can! God bless you!
Interested in learning the status of your KCPAO DV case (felony or
misdemeanor)?
Did you know you can look it up online?
Click
here
Need to look up KCPAO Filing and Disposition Standards? You can
access the full set of FADs
online.
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