Recanting statement due to mental illness and intoxication?

[needadviceinkan]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas

I have very serious mental illnesses that cause me to lose touch with reality, panic, become unruly, etc. A few weeks ago my "episodes" were triggered by a variety of events and extreme stress. To make matters worse, my husband and I were drinking alcohol. He tried to console me various times throughout the day, but to make a long story short, I completely freaked out. I did terrible things to our house and self-harmed (cutting) as well. I slammed his hand in the dryer door, and was screaming at him. I drunkenly stumbled into the hall and started to fall down the stairs. My husband tried to stop me from falling and I thought he was trying to hurt me. This has happened before with my illness- partially because of PTSD. I locked myself in a room and called my sister and told her that my husband was trying to kill me, etc. She called the police. My husband had gone to bed. He was sound asleep when the police arrived. I was so out of it that all I could do was stumble around like an idiot> They didn't ask me many questions, but took a picture of my neck where I had injured myself falling. I told them my husband did it. I really believed this at the time. But it was part of my illness.

They arrested my husband and charged him with Domestic Battery. I did not give a written statement. I was still out of it the next day, but reality started piecing itself back together. I called the District Attorney to explain about my illness and that I had been intoxicated but they would not let me talk to him. I was instructed by his assistant to write a letter recanting my statements from the time of the incident and to provide proof that I have mental illness. I did so, but have not heard anything at all.

Can they use anything I said as evidence in this case since I recanted? Given my mental condition at the time and the fact that I was very intoxicated? I am extremely torn up about this, which is causing even more mental triggers. My husband goes to court tomorrow. There have been other encounters with the police here in the past- and even though this should help prove that I have severe problems, I'm afraid it will be used against my husband instead.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to help my husband? He did not harm me at all. This is all a result of me having another breakdown- nothing he did.

 

[CTU]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas

I have very serious mental illnesses that cause me to lose touch with reality, panic, become unruly, etc. A few weeks ago my "episodes" were triggered by a variety of events and extreme stress. To make matters worse, my husband and I were drinking alcohol. He tried to console me various times throughout the day, but to make a long story short, I completely freaked out. I did terrible things to our house and self-harmed (cutting) as well. I slammed his hand in the dryer door, and was screaming at him. I drunkenly stumbled into the hall and started to fall down the stairs. My husband tried to stop me from falling and I thought he was trying to hurt me. This has happened before with my illness- partially because of PTSD. I locked myself in a room and called my sister and told her that my husband was trying to kill me, etc. She called the police. My husband had gone to bed. He was sound asleep when the police arrived. I was so out of it that all I could do was stumble around like an idiot> They didn't ask me many questions, but took a picture of my neck where I had injured myself falling. I told them my husband did it. I really believed this at the time. But it was part of my illness.

They arrested my husband and charged him with Domestic Battery. I did not give a written statement. I was still out of it the next day, but reality started piecing itself back together. I called the District Attorney to explain about my illness and that I had been intoxicated but they would not let me talk to him. I was instructed by his assistant to write a letter recanting my statements from the time of the incident and to provide proof that I have mental illness. I did so, but have not heard anything at all.

Can they use anything I said as evidence in this case since I recanted? Given my mental condition at the time and the fact that I was very intoxicated? I am extremely torn up about this, which is causing even more mental triggers. My husband goes to court tomorrow. There have been other encounters with the police here in the past- and even though this should help prove that I have severe problems, I'm afraid it will be used against my husband instead.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to help my husband? He did not harm me at all. This is all a result of me having another breakdown- nothing he did.

Many, many DV victims recant and often do so out of fear; your testimony is not necessarily needed in order for the DA to go ahead with prosecution.

Your husband needs an attorney.

 

[justalayman]

If you are being honest I can say I know exactly how you and your husband feel. Your husband needs an attorney.

Part of the problem is you are the one that should be charged with DV and if you provided the prosecutor with the same series of events as you did here, you might get charged. You should not speak with the police or prosecutor anymore without first consulting an attorney.

At this point neither should speak with anybody but your attorney.

 

[needadviceinkan]

Thank you to you both for your advice. I understand that unfortunately, many victims recant their statements- and I know that many allegations are false as well. This makes it particularly difficult to straighten things out in a case like mine and my husband's.

The letter I took to the District Attorney and to the sheriff's deputy might very well lead to my own arrest, but if that is the case, I certainly deserve it more than my husband does. Every time a car drives by slowly, I am afraid that it is the police coming to take me to jail. I know that there are consequences for the things that I do when I have my "episodes", but it's still very scary. Regardless, though, my husband shouldn't have to pay for something I did.

Tomorrow is his first court appearance- where he will be charged if the prosecutor decides to proceed with the case, and he is prepared to enter a plea of not guilty. We haven't hired a lawyer yet because we are really hoping that the DA will elect not to pursue the case.

I submitted medical evidence that shows that this is not a made up story, and there was no evidence of anything happening that night except what I said in my state of drunken paranoia. I'm hoping that if they can't use my statements from that night, they won't have anything else to use in court.

 

[justalayman]

Yes they can use your statements from that night. If it gets into court it would be up to your husbands attorney to dispute the veracity of your statements hopefully causing them to not be believed.

 

[needadviceinkan]

Well the county attorney did not drop the charges on my husband. I called shortly after his court appearance and the assistant told me that yes the county attorney had received my statement and had read it. Then she told me that court is scheduled for next month (1/13) and that my husband applied for a court appointed attorney but he did not qualify. I asked how to get the no contact order lifted and she said "oh we won't do that in a domestic violence case".

I don't know how he wouldn't qualify for a court appointed attorney. We cannot afford a private attorney, and the free Kansas Legal Services doesn't handle criminal cases. I've been researching trying to find some type of resource, but I'm coming up empty handed.

Does anyone know of any solution? We are in the process of filing bankruptcy due to my outstanding medical bills, so we cannot take a loan. Our families are not well enough off to help out. I know he can represent himself, but that is definitely a last resort. This is such a nightmare. I'm really trying to hold it together so I don't end up back in the hospital and I am scared to death that he is going to end up being punished for something he didn't do.

Should I write more letters to the County Attorney? Are there any men's advocacy groups that help with things like this? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[>Charlotte<]

I think your biggest issue here is even if you can prove you have this mental illness, that doesn't prove your husband isn't guilty of domestic violence. As was stated earlier, victims recant all the time. Even victims who suffer periodic episodes of psychosis. Just because you "freaked out" that day doesn't mean he didn't harm you. In fact, because he was drinking (read: not sober) it's plausible that he, too, was under stress because of your behavior and finally reached a breaking point. Even your sister--who should be intimately familiar with your mental health issues--believed you were in danger and called the police instead of jumping to the conclusion that you were in the throes of another breakdown. In the end, there was a woman 1) claiming her husband was trying to kill her and 2) claimed her husband physically harmed her and 3) had, in fact, suffered physical trauma.

The point is, there is enough reasonable evidence to justify a trial. The purpose of a trial is to determine guilt, or to determine if guilt cannot be proven. That's when your husband (or his lawyer) is going to need your testimony and medical records and anything else that supports your claim.

Convince your husband to meet with every single attorney within driving distance who offers a free consultation. Perhaps one of them will offer you an affordable solution. You say your families aren't well off, but they may have something squirreled away somewhere. Borrow from them whatever they can afford, and ask your friends for a loan. Get a second job. A third job. Do whatever you have to do to make hiring an attorney possible, that should be your focus right now.