Witness to Fights Defends Mom’s Biting of Teen-Ager : Trial: Charlotte Russo’s son-in-law says the accused child abuser acted in self-defense.

Charlotte Russo bit her teen-age daughter on the arm twice in self-defense during a violent confrontation the day before she was arrested on child-abuse charges last May, Russo’s son-in-law told a Ventura County Superior Court jury Monday.

Darin Eugene McLeish--the husband of Russo’s oldest daughter, Teresa--said he was reading a newspaper in the kitchen of the family’s nine-bedroom home on May 23 when the girl confronted her 52-year-old mother.

The girl, 15 at the time, swore at Russo and threatened to run away before challenging her physically, McLeish testified under direct examination.

“I saw (the girl) take three or four steps towards Mrs. Russo and hit her twice on the shoulder,” said McLeish, who said the incident stunned him and left Russo in agony. “She screamed. She yelled out. Then I saw (the girl) grab Mrs. Russo’s clothes around the collar.”

Russo attempted to loosen the girl’s grip from her collar and finally bit her when all else failed, testified McLeish, who said he raced over and separated the mother and daughter after they fell to the floor.

McLeish was one of several family members who testified on behalf of the defendant Monday, as Russo’s highly emotional trial on child-abuse charges stretched into its fifth week.

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On cross-examination, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dee Corona noted that McLeish lived with the Russos from 1987 to 1989 while attending college and suggested his testimony was biased.

McLeish acknowledged that Russo and her husband, Richard, also bought him a car and paid insurance on it while he was in school. But he said he paid rent while living in their home and paid back the money they spent for the car.

“I owe them nothing,” he declared.

McLeish described the girl as being incorrigible and said she frequently lied, cheated and stole. The girl, he said, seemed to have set her own rules for living in the house, and ignored the wishes of others.

Richard and Charlotte Russo were arrested the day after the fight in the kitchen. The girl told investigators that the fight was only one of many times she was either bitten, punched, scratched or slapped by her mother.

She also has testified that she was forced to live in a back-yard racquetball court off and on for a two-year period.

Charlotte Russo has denied physically abusing her daughter, but conceded that her husband ordered the girl to sleep in the racquetball court for two weeks last year for failing to complete her homework.

Richard Russo--a 50-year-old stockbroker--pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child abuse and has served a 30-day jail term. He is also on three years probation.

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Charlotte Russo faces up to three years in state prison if convicted of the two charges against her--felony and misdemeanor child abuse.

During his testimony, McLeish described the Russo household as a loving but chaotic place. Yelling, he said, “was the standard way to get someone’s attention” in the house.

Under cross-examination from Corona, McLeish said the girl slept in the house and was not treated any differently from other family members during the two years he lived with the Russos.

He characterized the teen-ager as having “thinking errors.” The phrase, he said, means that the girl could not distinguish right from wrong and that she would not change bad behavior even when someone would instruct her on the right way to do something.

He also said that prior to the kitchen fight, he had not seen either of the Russos batter the girl.

“Would it surprise you to know that your mother-in-law admitted to hitting (the girl) and leaving a bruise?” questioned Corona.

“No, I would not be taken aback by that,” said McLeish, who said he believes corporal punishment is acceptable in certain instances.

McLeish seemed ruffled when Corona accused him of lying to a process server who was trying to subpoena his wife before the trial. Attacking McLeish’s credibility, Corona asked the witness about the day he refused to accept his wife’s subpoena.

“Did you tell the process server that you were your wife’s cousin?” Corona asked.

“I don’t recall,” McLeish answered, as several jurors broke out in laughter.

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Later, McLeish denied lying to the process server.

As for the kitchen fight, Corona asked McLeish why he waited until after his mother-in-law was arrested to tell other family members about what he allegedly witnessed.

McLeish, who has a degree in criminal justice, said he did not consider the incident “extremely important” at the time.