Attorney Katie Kauffman won a not-guilty verdict for a client accused of assaulting her ex-husband. Gregger Highberg, the newest attorney at our firm, gained experience by assisting Kauffman during the March 23 trial in Clark County District Court. Kauffman’s client has no criminal history. She was arrested in December after her she called 911 to report that her ex-husband was getting violent. The client has full custody of their son and daughter; she filed for divorce after her husband pleaded guilty in 2011 to child molestation in the third degree and was sentenced to prison. (The victim in that case was a young teenage girl, not one of the couple’s children.) In December, she went to her ex’s apartment because he had told her he had some presents for their son. Then he refused to give them to her. She called 911 twice. The first time, she told the dispatcher that she was trying to pick up her son’s belongings and her son’s father wouldn’t give them to her. The second call, she clearly sounded panicked and said her ex is getting violent and that she tried to push him away from her and he told her she would be going to jail because he had scratches on his arm.
The jury did not hear that the alleged victim is a convicted child molester. Criminal histories are generally irrelevant unless the person has a conviction for a “crime of dishonesty,” which includes theft, making a false statement and forgery.
The alleged victim filmed Kauffman’s client on his phone during their argument. While Kauffman would have typically argued that the video should not be allowed because Washington is a two-party consent tape and the alleged victim was filming the client without her permission, she didn’t object. The alleged victim came across (in our eyes, anyway) as a jerk, taunting his ex-wife about how she was going to jail for domestic violence.
The client was charged with fourth-degree assault domestic violence, a gross misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to one year in jail.
At trial, the alleged victim made claims that were more outlandish than what he told responding officers, and Kauffman pointed out all the inconsistencies.
The client, meanwhile, tearfully described the encounter as another example of how her ex-husband has failed their children, as their son was a witness.
The six-member jury – all women, so good job on jury selection! – deliberated about 25 minutes before returning the verdict.
Vancouver Defenders
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