A man has admitted his responsibility in no less than three incidences of domestic abuse battery offenses on the same day, against the same woman he has been living with for approximately one year, and has received a sentence of hard labor, fines and supervised probations, as reported by The News Star.
G.L., 50, of West Monroe, entered his guilty pleas in the 4th Judicial District Court.
For his second offense, G.L. must serve 30 days in jail and pay a $750 fine. A second offense counts as a misdemeanor in Louisiana.
For his third offense, G.L. was sentenced to three years of hard labor, a fine of $2,000 and supervised probation for five years. A third offense in Louisiana is counted as a felony.
The prosecutor in the case, Assistant District Attorney Michelle Anderson, said, "This is the first time, to my knowledge, that we have had someone plead guilty to a second offense and felony-third offense on the same day. I'm very satisfied with the fact that he is admitting responsibility."
G.L.'s first arrest for domestic abuse battery, per the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office's arrest report, occurred on December 28, 2009.
G.L.'s girlfriend told deputies that the assault began when G.L. was rude enough to her son that the boy chose to leave the couple's residence and go to his grandmother's home.
When the girlfriend then argued with G.L. about his behavior, he grew angry, knocked her to the ground, climbed on top of her and used his closed fist to beat her in the face - striking her up to eight times.
After the beating, she allegedly was able to escape and get out of the home. She had to be taken to Glenwood Regional Medical Center for evaluation as her bruising had become severe.
G.L. claimed that the victim hit him in his face first and that he only struck her once, in self-defense, per a police report.
Just one day and one year later, on December 29, 2010, G.L. had another altercation with the same woman. The arrest report stated that the two began with a verbal disagreement, the woman tried to walk away, but G.L. caught up to her and slapped her in the face. A neighbor intervened before anything else occurred.
Then, on October 21, 2011, the girlfriend alleged that she was woken by G.L. grabbing her. As she tried to escape he flung a full can of beer at her receding back - that met it's mark.
Additional to his sentence: G.L. must find a new place to live and attend both a Batterer Intervention Program and receive counseling for substance abuse.
The first year of the hard labor sentence is to be spent with an ankle bracelet - that will monitor G.L.'s alcohol intake every hour of every day - in home incarceration. Anderson said, "This way, police will know where he is at all times and will be able to keep the victim safe."
Anderson concluded, "We hope this sends a clear message that there are consequences for their actions and they can't get out of it. We need to change society's opinion of domestic violence. It is an actual offense and it is punishable."
Have you been in a domestic violence altercation with the person you live with? As this attorney said, there are consequences for such actions. Contact a family law attorney to help you today!