LOS ANGELES : D.A. to Pursue Castration Case Despite Reconciliation

A prosecutor vowed Thursday to convict a woman accused of cutting off her husband’s testicles with a pair of scissors--even though the couple have reconciled and want to stay out of the courtroom.

“It’s not him vs. her. It’s the people of the state of California vs. her,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Longo said of the case against Aurelia Macias, 35.

Macias pleaded not guilty to felony mayhem in the Sept. 20, 1992, attack on Jaime Macias, 39. If convicted, she could receive eight years in prison. An enhancement of great bodily injury could add three years to the sentence.

Macias allegedly cut off her husband’s testicles as he slept in a drunken stupor after a baptismal party for the daughter of a neighbor, Longo said. She was angry because she believed her husband had been unfaithful, Longo said. Their 17-year-old son awoke to screams from his parents’ bedroom and found his father bleeding in bed. A pair of bloody five-inch scissors were lying in the kitchen, Longo said. The testicles were never found, he said.

Aurelia Macias’ attorney, Nan Whitfield, has said that her client had been abused by her husband and that he had extramarital affairs. Longo denied those charges, although he did acknowledge that police were called to the Macias home in 1990 after Macias allegedly slapped his wife. No charges were filed.