Domestic abuse charge dropped after woman with significant injuries refuses to testify against boyfriend
STRATFORD, Okla. (KFOR) - The Garvin County District Attorney, Greg Mashburn, dismissed a domestic abuse charge for a man in Stratford after the woman who originally called police testified in court and took back everything she originally accused her boyfriend of doing.
According to the police report, Stratford Police said when they arrived on scene back in March, they found the woman covered in blood on her head and face along with cuts on her arms and legs.
The police report also said the woman claimed her boyfriend, Anthony Romero poured lighter fluid on her and threatened to light her on fire.
But during her testimony in court earlier this month, she testified what she said wasn’t true and asked for the case to be dropped.
The domestic violence service, YWCA in Oklahoma City told KFOR why she may have took back what she originally said.
“There are so many barriers on the way to a conviction, on the way to justice that some survivors deem it not safe at the expense of their own safety they may lie and say, 'That wasn’t true, what I said wasn’t true.' Not that they’re dishonest people, it's that, that’s how afraid they are,” said Brandon Pasley, YWCA Chief Compliance Officer.
Brandon Pasley said gathering evidence for a case like this can be very tricky.
“When we can gather that evidence, it really makes a true difference,” said Pasley.
So, participation from the victim goes a long way in court.
“When we look at the sentencing, even if we get a conviction, how long is that person going to be behind bars? How long does our system protect the survivor from that person. Is there tie for them to get away, start over? ...The challenge that law enforcement faces with survivors because they’re so afraid of fall out with the perpetrator of revenge, of retaliation,” said Pasley.
KFOR asked the Garvin County District Attorney why he dismissed the case.
A spokesperson told us quote, “Without her testimony, we did not have enough probable cause to continue so the State moved to dismiss the case.”
The DA’s Office also said the following about the case:
This case moved forward to a Preliminary Hearing where the State has the burden to prove that there was probable cause that this crime occurred and that the defendant committed this crime. In this hearing, we are able to call witnesses to testify about what happened.
We called the victim in this case to testify about her statements made to police about what happened on March 7th. The victim testified that she does not believe that the Defendant did what we alleged in the information and she wanted the case to be dismissed.
There is also an ongoing investigation against Romero for stalking an 8-year-old girl.
If you or someone you know needs help and resources, you can call the sexual assault hotline at 405-943-7273 or domestic violence hotline at 405-917-9922.