E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA sexual assault victim who was groped by an off-duty police officer is demanding an apology from an Arizona judge who during a sentencing hearing for the defendant told her: "If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you.”
coconino.az.gov
Coconino County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Hatch.
An online petition drive launched on Change.org, a popular website for social activism, has garnered more than 4,600 supporters nationwide calling for Coconino County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Hatch to resign for her remarks during a court hearing on Wednesday.
Hatch, a Republican appointed by Gov. Jan Brewer in June 2010, did not return a telephone call from NBC News seeking comment. The woman's name was withheld because she is a victim of a sexual crime.
According to the Arizona Daily Sun, a jury convicted 43-year-old Robb Gary Evans of a felony charge of sexual abuse on July 2. Prosecutors said Evans walked up behind the victim in a Flagstaff bar, put his hand up her skirt and groped her last summer. The former Arizona Department of Public Safety officer had been facing a maximum sentence of up to 2 ½ years in prison, but received two years of probation, community service and treatment. He was fired after his conviction.
The Daily Sun's account of the court hearing:
Bad things can happen in bars, Hatch told the victim, adding that other people might be more intoxicated than she was.
"If you wouldn't have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you," Hatch said.
Hatch told the victim and the defendant that no one would be happy with the sentence she gave, but that finding an appropriate sentence was her duty.
"I hope you look at what you've been through and try to take something positive out of it," Hatch said to the victim in court. "You learned a lesson about friendship and you learned a lesson about vulnerability."
Hatch said that the victim was not to blame in the case, but that all women must be vigilant against becoming victims.
"When you blame others, you give up your power to change," Hatch said that her mother used to say.
The victim said Hatch's comments were inappropriate, adding that she felt Hatch was accusing her of allowing herself to become a victim.
"It felt like she was saying to me, 'If you wouldn't have been there that night, it wouldn't have happened to you.' Yeah, well, it probably would have happened to someone else," the victim told the Daily Sun during a telephone interview.
Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com
“I’m still kind of in shock that she said that to me,” the victim said. “Coming from a woman, I would expect her to be a little bit more realistic about women being strong and independent and the fact that there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Hatch's comments have caused an uproar in Flagstaff, the Daily Sun reported.
“It takes a lot to come forward, to ask for help, to share the details of a traumatic event with strangers,” Kris Stark, executive director of Victim/Witness Services for Coconino County, told the Daily Sun. “The message from Victim Witness to a sexual assault survivor is that you are not responsible for an unwanted, uninvited assault on your body.”
Hatch, who was elected to a full term in November 2010, is up for reelection in 2014.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Caribbean, Florida coral in sharp decline, 'no signs of slowing, report finds
- Hoax that grounded US Air jet sparked by Facebook photo
- Mass. city the first in US to ban sale of plastic water bottles
- As deadline looms, Chicago fears major teachers strike
- Navy sailor earns gold one year after losing sight in Afghanistan
- Video: Cop rushes to save unconscious driver
Leave a Comment:
And if the victim had a gun and blew this "police officer" away would she get 2 yrs. probation? Hell, no. This dumb judge would throw the book at her.
Reminds me of a case many years ago when a WASP judge found a child rapist innocent because the 5 year old girl was "flaunting" herself in front of him.
Get rid of this so called judge and jail the Police officer.
This judge needs kicking off the bench!! I can't believe any judge would say that, much less a woman judge. How stupid, insensitive and not to mention inappropriate can you get? If something isn't done to this judge by the Judicial Review Board, or whoever oversees these people, then there is definitely something wrong with the system. Moreso than even I thought there was. She not only spouted off the biggest bunch of trash ever to come out of a judge's mouth but she compounded the problem by giving the man a slap on the wrist for what he did. This judge isn't playing with a full deck and once more she knows it!!! Just because she may not like the idea of women being in bars doesn't mean she gets to rule based on her personal likes and dislikes. Kick her off the bench and do justice a favor!! She needs to get her thinking in the 21st century!
The Government in the State of Arizona, is being led by the most blatant, irresponsible, racist and disconnected fragment since slavery. Maybe there is something to be said about the whole inbred thing. Anyway, from the "B" who stuck her finger in Presidents Face, to this new "B" who suggests that "Maybe women or men who are particular to being sexually assaulted should just stay home" does this same philosophy apply to female police officers or judges who may want to go out and socialize? [Maybe her or any of the females in her family should test this theory] don't know or care how they do things in the south, but where I come from, any low life who stoops to the level of sexually assaulting anyone is dealt with outside of court for this exact reason. The piece of crap who committed this crime should thank God daily that he lives in this racist, backward State, and not in mine and that it was not any of my children.
"Crocodile" mouths overloading "hummingbird" as#es.
Arkius,
Ah ha ha ha..! Now that was funny!
I am not surprised that this judge is a Republican. But why ask her to apologize? If she did it would only be for political reasons. I doubt that she would realize what was wrong with her attitude.
Sure, if the woman had not been in the bar, she would not have been groped. BUT, she had a RIGHT to be in the bar. The cop did NOT have the right to grope. It is also true that if you were crossing the street, and got run over by a driver who ran the red light, it would not have happened if you had not been crossing the street at that time. This judge is ridiculous and does not belong on the bench.
P.S. I do agree that as Judge Hatch says "when you blame others you give up your power to change." I hope she remembers that lesson as her career takes a nose dive.
As a women yes no matter where we go there is always a danger but the same could be said to a man going to the grocery store and being hit by a car running a red light. The point that makes the judges comments unacceptable is the fact that no matter her personal feeling towards the situation she should of never even partially blamed the victim instead should should of said something like " tho by knowingly going out to a place where alcohol could impair the judgement of others making them violent, I commend you for bringing this criminal action perpetrated against you, to the attention of the authorities, thank you for not letting people think that their action have no consequences. Hopefully this will help people learn that anyone can do something illegal and that no one is above the law" Something like that would get the point across the were ever you go there is always a danger, but do so in a way that makes the victim not feel blamed at all for the actions or decisions of another.
Hell,if that sentence didn't make the cop above the law I'll kiss your behind!!! If I did the same thing I'd still b in jail!! Pllleeeaaassseeeee
While I don't think the jugde should of said this, I also believe that some people are making way to big of a deal over this.
I see nothing out of line with the judges comment. We live in a slave state. Judges do not uphold the law, they create them as they go. The comment was made as proof of her total judgmental mentality. The police acted like most others, no respect for the slaves in the slave state. Like running down little n-i-g-g-e-r-s in the corn field and raping them. Nothing wrong with that as my Great Grandfather would say. Then again, when the slaves rise to be the masters, things will change. Until then , just another day on America. It is the same thing with banks and loan company's. You would not have been robbed by them had you not been there.
If you or I committed that crime we'd still be doing time.Put her (the judge) in the cell with that cop and let him get his hands on her.That's fair isn't it? Nothing worse than a d**khead cop that thinks he's above the law!
This is a nation which has, and hopefully will always continue, to value Free Speech. If a woman wishes to express the views this judge did in ordinary discourse, she has, and must have, every right to do so. This nation is over run with pompous, self-righteous bible thumping puritan tyrants, and that is OK, as they have the right to be here and to speak their mind, just as we do.
But this woman did not speak her mind and opinions as such within ordinary discourse ... she chose to speak them from the Bench ... and so spoken, such words come with the full force of government ... and this is a huge problem ...keep your arrogant, preachy opinions to yourself when you are on Judge time, lady ...
Such an outrageous remark should be (and may well already be) grounds to have her removed ... and if she is elected, the populace will be most unwise to re-elect her ...
This is a terrible thing to happen to anyone,and the fact it was an off duty police officer makes it worse.He did lose his job and should be tared and feathered out of town.If it wasn't an off duty police officer it would of never made the press.Also the victim stated that "It felt like she was saying to me, If you wouldn't have been there that night, it wouldn't have happened to you"Get it it FELT like that was what she was saying !
...Sounds like a pretty harsh penalty for grabbing some ho's butt in a bar.
Try it Jethro! See where it gets you.
If the alter boys had not been in church.............................................
So this republican judge is saying no woman should go into a bar?
The Repuke Theory ' "If you don't have money we will blame you for everything" "What will they do about , its not like they are human or have any rights"
MITT, To the American Poor, "YOU GOT US IN THIS MESS. YOU WILL PAY FOR IT WITH YOUR MONEY, TIME, AND/OR FREEDOMS".
The American people got your Repuke messege along time ago. It is time to protect or freedoms
If Hatch and Brewer both advocate staying at home barefoot and pregnant, how is it they are in their current positions? If the Dems are so progressive why haven't they had a female on the ticket yet? That seems more like "legitimate rape"/"blaming the victim" more than anything else.
Another example where the woman is blamed for her attack. This is the exact mentality that gives fuel to rapists. That Judge, should be taken off the bench!
The judge is just another in a long line of out-of-touch Republicans.
Blacks do more time for having a joint in their pocket during an illegal stop and frisk. If they stand up for their lol rights and not comply will get beaten up along with the longer stay in jail. I would guess a years pay the guy wearing the badge was not the latter. I realize this sounds race cardish but do remember why there is such a saying. The real point to this story is how this guy got away with it without any real consequence. The fact the judge was heartless is irrelevant.
I expect that when I go to a public place that people would be in control of themselves. This judge is a moron blaming the victim for going out to enjoy herself. How humiliating to be at a sentencing for a crime against you and then being blamed with the criminal. This judge has no place in our judicial process.
be STRONG you did the correct thing by reporting this matter who knows how many others that did not!
The judge was out of line on this one. She was not giving the victim any good advice that would protect her in the future. Just pointed blame at her. Maybe a skirt is asking for something over jeans but neither constitutes being violated, regardless of the time or location. The best thing the judge could have said was to think proactively and try to put things in her own hands in the future, especially when visiting places of hostile, drunk and horny men. It's crazy how the law can stretch and bend. It is definitely not for the weak and timid.
Apparently Hatch is faulting the survivor for her violation of Sharia Law.