While a man charged with domestic violence has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors, his victim has written a letter recanting her earlier version of the events that lead up to the man's arrest, as reported by All Michigan Live.
J.P., 23, is no longer facing felony charges as his pregnant roommate, T.H., no longer says he attacked her with a cordless power drill on Sunday December 15, 2013.
Bay County Chief District Judge Timothy J. Kelly accepted J.P.'s guilty plea to attempted possession of Xanax and domestic violence on Tuesday, January 28. J.P. now faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of $1,000 for the attempted possession charges, and up to 93 days in jail and a fine of $500 for the domestic violence charge.
Bay County Assistant Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks has agreed to dismiss one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in the plea deal.
J.P. told Judge Kelly that on the night of the alleged attack he came home only to find his roommate and a neighbor high on Xanax. He claimed that he took their pills away and put them in his own pocket to prevent them from overdosing. He also admitted to grabbing T.H. – however he only did so in an effort to forcibly take her to a doctor.
J.P. said, "I didn't mean no harm or nothing like that. I just tried to help her and her to the hospital."
Judge Kelly was unwilling to accept the plea deal at first as he felt that J.P. did not indicate that he had put the victim through much assaultive behavior. Then J.P. told the judge that T.H. became aggressive and told him to let her go – and J.P. didn't. The judge then accepted the defendant's guilty pleas.
J.A., the neighbor in the incident, had told the police that T.H. was bloody when she first came into her apartment, and told him that J.P. was responsible. T.H. herself told the police that J.P. has assaulted her by slapping and kicking her at first – twice in the arm and once to the stomach – and then threatening her with a power drill.
Police reports show that T.H. presented with two puncture marks on her left arm. She was taken by ambulance to the McLaren Bay Region hospital where her injuries were treated and she was later released.
During a second interview with police T.H. added to her story: she said that the defendant pinned her down and force fed three Xanax pills into her mouth that she couldn't avoid swallowing. Concerned with the health of her unborn baby, T.H. listened as J.P. told her that it was his intention for the pills to cause a miscarriage.
J.P. was arrested at the scene with the bottle of Xanax pills in his pocket.
Brooks, and J.P.'s attorney Robert J. Dunn, told reporters outside of the hearing that T.H. had since withdrawn her earlier statements – including the account about T.H. attacking her with a power drill.
J.P. is free on bond and is due for sentencing at the end of February.
If you have been the victim of domestic violence don't let it end there, contact a family law attorney to help you in court. There is no reason to be a victim any longer.