Domestic Abuse Victim Says Judge Treated Her Like A Criminal
DENTON (CBSDFW) - A victim in a domestic abuse says she when she went to court, she was treated like a criminal.
Andrada Dajicu, 20, is the victim and main witness in a domestic abuse case involving her boyfriend.
She did not want to press charges but the State proceeded with the case.
Dajicu told prosecutors four months ago, when they took the case, when she would be available to go to trial.
"I told them, 'I can go to trial, but I cannot go to trial July 15th-September 22nd because I will be out of the country. I'm going to see my sick grandma,'" she said. Dajicu said prosecutors said it would not be a problem.
Dajicu's grandmother is 83, lives in Romania and has had heart problems in recent months. Family members are concerned for her health.
"It might be the last time I see her, you never know," Dajicu said.
The last time Dajicu saw her grandmother was in 2011. She saved for several months and had to travel to the Romanian embassy in Washington D.C. to obtain appropriate documents to travel to Romania. The travel documents expire within 30 days and Dajicu already paid for her plane ticket.
Originally, the trial had been set for June 30th but prosecutors changed the date to July 14th, the day Dajicu was scheduled to leave for Houston to catch a flight Romania the following day.
Court transcripts from a pre-trial hearing Friday show when the victim as to reschedule the trial due to her trip, the presiding judge, Honorable Jim Crouch, repeatedly threatened to arrest her if she didn't know and called her a 'flight risk.'
"What it means is this person-the criminal- cannot be trusted to return to court so you declare them a 'flight risk' and you increase bail or deny bail," said Dallas Attorney George Milner, who is not involved with the case. "You don't refer to the victim as a flight risk. That is outrageous and offensive."
Milner said trials and hearings often repeatedly rescheduled.
"To not reset this case two weeks is offensive," he said. "As a former prosecutor you talk to your witnesses before you schedule a trial."
"He didn't care. He treated me like a criminal," Dajicu said.
CBS11 news crews tried repeatedly to get in touch for comment with Judge Crouch and District Attorney Paul Johnson but their attempts were not successful.
Dajicu plans to be in court but doesn't know whether she'll be able to make the trip to Romania to see her grandmother.
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