County Confronts Domestic Abuse With New Laws, Tough Approach : Violence: Court cases have increased fourfold since 1989. But that represents only a fraction of the problem.

Carolee Warkentine said her husband threw coffee cups and jars of mayonnaise, broke light switches and pounded walls during their seven years of marriage.

Then, one morning 13 months ago, the violence escalated.

Her husband followed her down the stairs of their expansive beachfront Ventura home as she was leaving for work, Warkentine, 48, recalled. Then, she said, he attacked her.

It started with a fist to her face, she said, and didn’t stop until her son, hearing his mother’s screams, called 911 from his upstairs bedroom.

She was left with two black eyes, three broken ribs, cuts across her cheek that required 18 stitches and more than 40 bruises over most of her body.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Pachowicz, who prosecuted the case, said David Warkentine admitted guilt and was eventually sentenced to six months in jail. Carolee Warkentine filed for divorce immediately after the attack.

“Our investigation showed it was an unprovoked assault by an individual who acted irresponsibly and lost control,” Pachowicz said. “He’s a dangerous guy.”

But the outcome of the Warkentine case might have been significantly different had it not been for a series of state laws passed over the last 16 years aimed at increasing arrests and prosecutions in cases of domestic violence, Pachowicz said.

The crime of felony spousal abuse did not even exist as such until 1977, Pachowicz said. The law is different from other assault statutes in that prosecutors do not have to establish intent to harm, the prosecutor added.

Because of that, it was easier to get David Warkentine’s guilty plea.

Subsequent laws have strengthened the hand of prosecutors even more in spousal-abuse cases. They have made it easier for victims to get restraining orders against batterers; allowed police to issue such orders on an emergency basis, and required law-enforcement agencies to develop written policies for responding to domestic violence calls.

Together, the new laws have led to a more than fourfold increase in the number of Ventura County spousal-abuse cases that have gone to court over the past few years, from 64 in 1989 to 258 in 1992.

But that represents only a fraction of the domestic violence that occurs.

Police agencies in the county received 4,285 domestic violence calls in 1991, noted Jamie Leigh, executive director of the Ventura County Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

And if, as the FBI estimates, only one in 10 cases are reported to police, it could mean that county residents were smacked, punched or otherwise physically abused in 43,000 separate incidents last year, an average of 118 per day, five per hour.

The vast majority of victims are women.

In terms of the extent of the problem, Ventura County is on a par with other areas, Leigh said. “We pretty much follow the norm.”

The county’s response, however, surpasses many others in the state, both through services offered to victims and the attention that the local criminal-justice system pays to the issue, officials say.

Some victims, such as Carolee Warkentine, remain in abusive relationships until they suffer severe injuries or the police intervene.

Others who seek help before that point can turn to two local agencies--Interface and the Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, which offer counseling, support groups and 24-hour hot lines.

“In general, women call after a recent abusive incident and want to know what their options are, what’s out there for them,” said Jaclyn Brugnano of Interface. “Making that call is real hard. What that means is they have to admit they’re in an abusive relationship.”

For women seeking refuge from the batterer but have no money or friends and family to turn to, Interface and the coalition each operate a shelter at an undisclosed location.

In addition, both agencies help victims obtain restraining orders against the batterers, a service also offered by some local police departments, free legal clinics and the victim services division of the district attorney’s office.

Victims’ services programs are common in other parts of the state. But Ventura County has a batterers’ hot line, the only one in Southern California, geared to helping batterers deal with their anger before they get violent, Leigh said.

Most victims and batterers don’t seek such help, said Marty Bolton, coordinator of crisis services for Interface. “Our clients are only the tip of the iceberg.”

For the rest, the intervention of police officers, prosecutors and others in the criminal justice system offers the last, best hope for breaking free from or altering their relationships.

In this arena, local prosecutors and counselors said, the county could do better.

A task force of about 45 prosecutors, counselors, and police and probation officers from throughout the county is expected to release a report within a month aimed at increasing arrests and prosecutions in domestic violence cases.

The task force, organized last year by the district attorney’s office, will call for the county’s police agencies to adopt a standard protocol for responding to domestic violence calls.

Among other things, the protocol would encourage officers to take more time gathering evidence in these crimes, such as noting whether furniture has been overturned or a victim’s clothes ripped, local prosecutors said.

“Domestic violence calls are the worst calls for officers to respond to and the most dangerous,” said Lela Henke-Dobroth, the county’s supervising deputy district attorney for sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence. “They want to get in and get out.”

On 85% of police calls, victims change their mind about filing a complaint against the batterer by the time officers arrive, which frustrates police, Henke-Dobroth said.

However, it is precisely because victims often don’t cooperate that officers must be especially vigilant about gathering evidence, Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Kramer said. “The new thinking is that criminal justice intervention, regardless of what the battered woman wants, is the best way to reduce battering incidents in that relationship,” she said.

“Not giving the woman the power to dismiss charges, not giving the woman a chance to waver, makes a very clear societal statement that battering is against the law, that she’s not the one pressing charges, society is,” Kramer said.

The task force has also taken steps to bolster the county’s court-mandated counseling program for batterers. Hundreds of residents, mostly men, are sent to such counseling sessions each year, but the county’s Probation Department says it has no exact figures.

If no severe injuries have been inflicted, a suspect who has no prior convictions can avoid jail by agreeing to attend up to 52 weeks of group counseling at Interface or the Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence or individual sessions with a private therapist.

Until recently, batterers could fulfill the requirement haphazardly, postponing the date they begin counseling and attending irregularly.

Now, following a task force recommendation, they must begin counseling immediately and attend regularly, increasing the likelihood that treatment will be successful, said Christine Weidenheimer, a supervising deputy probation officer for the county.

Some men who have attended court-ordered counseling said the treatment taught them how to handle anger without verbally or physically abusing their partners, but counselors admit such therapy is not foolproof.

James Linkenauger, 39, attended court-mandated counseling after he was arrested 2 1/2 years ago for abusing his wife.

Now the Moorpark resident stands accused of murdering his wife and dropping her body on a Somis roadside last month.

In other ways, too, the Linkenauger case raises questions about the limitations of the legal system when it attempts to intervene in violent relationships.

Prior to her slaying on Jan. 18, Joanne Linkenauger had filed twice for restraining orders against her husband.

The first time, she didn’t show up at a scheduled hearing to change a 21-day temporary restraining order to a three-year order. The second time, last October, she followed through on obtaining the longer-term order but apparently violated it herself.

She was living with her husband at the time she was killed.

Like Joanne Linkenauger, many domestic violence victims don’t follow through on their attempts to protect themselves, often because they are afraid of the batterer or financially dependent upon him, said Ventura Police Lt. Kathy Kemp.

Other victims resist attempts by outsiders to intervene in the violent relationship.

“People see the issue and they see the problem, but on the other hand they see this as an invasion into their homes,” said Oxnard Police Lt. Tom Cady.

Some lawyers also express concern about civil liberties issues raised when police and prosecutors decide to file criminal charges in cases in which a victim does not want to cooperate.

Deputy Public Defender Joe Villasana said the district attorney’s office should consider whether a victim wants to press charges when deciding whether to prosecute the batterer.

While Villasana acknowledged that intervention by police and prosecutors can help a couple if it gets them to counseling, he added that “sometimes D.A. intervention can do more harm than good.”

“It can be that last straw when they need building up instead of tearing down,” Villasana said. “What happens, hypothetically, if the victim says, ‘I don’t want my husband prosecuted’? Maybe the woman doesn’t want this case prosecuted because it’s a rare activity. Maybe he goes to jail. He loses his job. More economic hardship on the family. More stress on the family.”

Ventura resident Patti Bell makes a similar point, but in even stronger terms.

One Saturday last July, the morning calm in the quiet cul-de-sac where Bell and her husband live was shattered by screams emanating from the Bell home.

Neighbors called police.

Although Patti Bell says she suffered a dislocated shoulder and a broken vertebra in the incident, the couple insist they needed no interference from the criminal justice system.

It was only a senseless argument that escalated, said Patti, 39, and Greg, 32, during a recent interview at their home.

At one point, Greg Bell said, he grabbed his wife’s face and pushed her against the headboard of their bed, which caused Patti Bell’s injuries.

“We’d finally calmed down and were talking to each other,” he said. “Next thing we know the police were coming in,” she added.

Patti Bell refused to press charges, but the district attorney’s office pursued the case. Greg Bell was convicted of spousal abuse and was given a 90-day jail sentence with a work furlough and 52 weeks of counseling.

Greg Bell said the counseling, which he has attended for 18 weeks so far, has helped.

“I’ve learned how to not let it build up, how to communicate better, how to understand a little bit more how she’s feeling.”

But Patti Bell broke into tears as she recalled that her husband’s work-furlough sentence led to the family going $10,000 into debt.

Although he would leave jail during the day to work, he couldn’t travel, which substantially cut into his income from his job in computer sales.

It eventually caused him to be fired, the couple said.

Patti Bell said she repeatedly pleaded with the court to keep her husband out of jail.

“I went to court and I begged,” she said. “The judge didn’t think about the family. That’s what I’m angry about.”

Despite resistance from victims and their families, Kramer stresses that it is important to arrest and prosecute batterers even when they cause only minor injuries.

“What’s a slap today and a punch tomorrow? You don’t know where that’s going to go,” she said. “It may be that he’s just going to punch her in the eye now and then when he gets mad, or it may be that it will get worse and someday he’s going to kill her. How do you know?”

Where to Call

For information on obtaining a restraining order, shelters or other types of assistance available to domestic violence victims: Interface Children, Family Services: 1-800-339-9597 Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence: 656-1111 Victim services division of the district attorney’s office: 654-2500 or 654-2447 The Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence offers a 24-hour batterers’ hot line for people who have trouble controlling their anger at 656-4861.

Domestic Violence Cases

Domestic violence cases filed by the district attorney’s office have increased dramatically over the past several years.

Year Misdemeanors Felonies Filed Filed 1989 54 10 1990 146 14 1991 125 37 1992 217 41

A domestic violence case is usually filed as a felony if the injuries are severe or if the batterer has prior convictions for violent crimes.