Monday, February 20, 2012

Another false DV arrest

I used to think that domestic violence arrests were only a problem for drunk trailer trash, but these bad laws also entrap well-off folks with the very best political connections. I noted below about how the San Franciso sheriff and the California attorney general could not avoid the evils of these DV laws.

Now the NY Times reports that the New York city deputy mayor just had his career ruined by false DV charges:
Mr. Goldsmith was arrested on suspicion of assault, over his wife’s objections, on July 30 after a loud fight with his wife at their town house in Washington. She told the police that he had shoved her and smashed a phone against the floor. He resigned five days later, having held the position of deputy mayor for operations for 14 months.

The arrest did not come to light until September. Mr. Goldsmith said at the time that he had actually resigned so that his arrest would not “be a distraction” to the mayor. Both he and his wife denied that there had been any violence. Prosecutors elected not to pursue the case, but the arrest remained on Mr. Goldsmith’s record until the January ruling by Judge Karen Aileen Howze.
Goldsmith's boss was the mayor of New York and a billionare, but could do nothing except to try to let him resign quietly.

This is crazy. Doesn't anyone believe in innocence until proven guilty? The problem here much worse, as there was no victim and no accuser. Goldsmith should never have been arrested.

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