Friday, October 6, 2006

Justice Denied: Abuse Charges Against Brett Myers Dropped

Massachusetts state court Judge Raymond Dougan, Jr., ruled yesterday that Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers will not stand trial for beating up his wife, Kim, outside a Sheraton Hotel in Boston last June (Laurel J. Sweet, "Pitcher's Free Pass Angers Victim Advocates," Boston Herald, Oct. 6, 2006). As you probably recall, the 6'4, 240 pound Myers--a former amateur boxer--allegedly dragged Kim by the hair and repeatedly smacked and punched her in front of a crowded street, only a couple of days before his scheduled start against the Red Sox. Here are excerpts from 9-1-1 calls by two bystanders who watched Kim get beaten up:

"There's a guy like beating up his girlfriend," a woman told Boston's 911 operators during the June 23 incident.

"I got a guy smacking a girl around right in front of the Hynes Convention Center. She's crying. She's got no shoes on," a man reported. "He's a pretty big guy... and he's hitting her hard."

During yesterday's pre-trial hearing, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley argued that Brett Myers should plead guilty, serve two years’ probation, attend a 40-week certified program for batterers, and submit to alcohol-abuse evaluation. However, Kim Myers said that she would not testify against her husband, thus eliminating much of the evidence. In fact, she seemed to almost blame herself for what happened:
"I became upset with him and I pushed him away from me. That’s when other people saw us disagreeing with each other.”
I suspect some might view Kim's response as consistent with battered wives' syndrome, although without knowing more about her and Brett's marriage and whether there was a history of violence, it's hard to jump to that conclusion. Moreover, I think we can empathize with her current position: she's married and presumably loves her husband, and wants to see if they can make their marriage work. So while her decision to not testify may strike us as unfortunate and potentially regrettable, it is understandable given her situation.

Nevertheless, it's disconcerting that our criminal justice system can't hold Brett Myers accountable in any way, and since his victim won't bring civil and tort claims against him, it appears that he'll suffer no sanction from any court. Even his own employer, the Phillies, found his behavior unworthy of sanction, as they allowed him to start against the Red Sox, and never even bothered to suspended him (he instead took a short--and paid--"leave of absence"). This is an incredibly sad story and one, in my view, suggestive of our need to earnestly revisit how the legal system and employers treat domestic violence.