My aunt who is a very small woman has been beaten by my uncle for years.
They managed to keep it quiet because my uncle has a lot of influence in the community and it seems to be a part of the culture from the part of Mexico their families came from. I have urged her to leave him but she won't.
They are both in their fifties.
Last Sunday, they were at a friend's home and he suddenly started beating her unmerficully! She hit back in self-defense and struck his glasses leaving one major red mark where his glasses were in contact with his nose!
I think she may have scratched him on his arm to force him to stop strangling her. When she had broke free of his grasp, she ran for several blocks.
He called the Austin police trying to get her picked up because she had hit him.
When the Austin police came, they located her and they arrested BOTH of them. She had blood running in her eyes and lacerations where he had hit her with his rings on, she had them on her forehead, both sides of her face, a swollen ligature mark around her neck where he tried to choke her with a cell phone recharging cord, swollen and bruised lip which was split when he hit her and a major black eye. She was crying and did not resist arrest like he did. Her hair was matted with blood and she had bruises all over her arms and face. He had hit her in the mouth several times and knocked some teeth loose and she had blood coming out of her nose and mouth too. SHE RECEIVED NO MEDICAL ATTENTION AT THE SCENE!
They both went to jail and spent the night in central booking in downtown Austin. I got a call to come and bail them out but they had been to trial (Administrative Hearing) and released before I could get there.
The jail is run by the sheriff's department and several of the corrections people told me that SHE had NO business being arrested and he should have had major assault charges placed on him.
Long story short, my dear little aunt now has an ARREST RECORD that she NEVER should have had, did NOT deserve and it is going to hurt her chances in an ever-competitive world of getting a job. She might be fired from the little job that she has —maybe that is what my crazy uncle was trying to do!
I looked into getting her record cleared up for her. It is going to be $1,000 for the lawyer's fees and $400 each per each agency they have to notify that the arrest charges have been expunged! That can be up to SIX agencies!
Also, their truck had been confiscated by the police and towed to an impound facility. They probably went through it and she has no idea if anything of hers is missing. HE made HER pay $200 to get it out of impound or he threatened to beat her again!
I do not know why the austin police department had to arrest my aunt and charge her with assault-family violence which is a class a misdemeanor! She was just defending herself.
The judge THREW OUT the bogus charge against her but SHE STILL HAS THE ARREST RECORD and will have until she can have it expunged!
Texas has a long way to go when it comes to dealing with family violence and austin, texas is not as progressive as they claim.
Austin police were recently required to take a class in Intermediate Crisis Intervention which is REQUIRED by the State of Texas Peace Officer licensing agency and ARRESTING AN INNOCENT, BATTERED FEMALE IS NOT WHAT WAS TAUGHT IN THAT CLASS.
I am thinking because the arresting officer was Mexican American that his family may be from the same state in Mexico as my uncle where it is considered OK for men to beat up their wives!
Old mexican women do not get justice in that town!
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