Within the next couple of days, the Sheboygan County District Attorney will have to make a charging decision in a very high profile case. Similar to the advice responsible adults often give young people who are considering using drugs, the DA should simply "just say no" when it comes to bringing charges in this particular matter.
About 10 days ago, a 17 year old Sheboygan teen was caught in the process of sexually assaulting his 8-year old cousin. The boy was so intent on the assault that a neighbor had to hit him with both a shovel and a house fan in order to get him out of the child's bedroom. At the time of his attack on on the 8 year old, the pervert was subject to a "deferred prosecution" agreement as a result of his having sex with a child under the age of 16 last fall.
A short time after the sexual assault, the girl's mother learned what happened. While briefly left alone in her apartment with her daughter's rapist immediately after the incident, the mom attacked him with a kitchen knife. The teen was not seriously injured. The mother however now finds herself free on a $25,000 signature bond while Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco decides whether to charge her with aggravated assault.
The problem for DeCecco is that what the mother did does not technically fit within the definition of "self-defense". That is, as a general rule, a person can use whatever reasonable force is necessary to defend themselves or another from immediate danger. In this case though, by the time the mother went at her daughter's rapist with the knife, the immediate danger had passed. As such, under the strict letter of the law, she may be guilty of an offense.
Technicalities aside though, there is the "letter of the law" and the "spirit of the law". In that vein, it's hard for me to imagine how any reasonable person would find that this mother violated the spirit of the law. As a matter of fact, I think most people feel that the rapist is lucky that the girl's mom only stabbed him in the arms and legs - as opposed to somewhere more sensitive. If mom had had ready access to a firearm, I don't doubt that she would have been sorely tempted to turn her daughter's assailant from a rooster to a hen - as it were.
I'm sure the DA is concerned that not charging the mom might lead some to think that he is condoning a form of vigilanteeism. In other words, do we want everybody who loses a fistfight to go grab a baseball bat and go out seeking "street justice"? Obviously not.
On the other hand, the facts of this case are unique. The nature of the 17 year old's crime was particularly heinous. The mom's actions came in the immediate aftermath of the attack. The rapist wasn't seriously injured. Taken as a whole, I don't think that giving the mom a pass in this case sets too much of a precedent for the future.
Besides, who's kidding who? Does anyone seriously think that the DA will be able to get 12 members of a Sheboygan County jury to unanimously agree beyond a reasonable doubt that this mother committed a crime? Hardly!
Declining prosecution in this case would be the right think to do. Unfortunately, the Sheboygan DA has a history of making somewhat rash decisions. Remember, this is the same guy who recommended ten days in jail for the two Sheboygan County sisters who took cheesecake photographs of themselves in the presence of one of their children.
The bottom line is that early next week, DA DeCecco will have the opportunity to show the residents of Shgeboygan County that he understands the concept of "prosecutoral discretion". If he blows it, the voters of Sheboygan County will have the opportunity to teach him the concept of accountability when he runs for re-election in November of 2008.
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