The above result is particularly timely as domestic violence charges were dropped this week against Nashville businessman David Chase. After spending over a year professing his innocence of the Domestic Violence and Strangulation charges filed against him by his former girlfriend, the Prosecutors in the case asked the Judge to drop the charges for the same reason Mr. Justice’s Order of Protection was dismissed – because the alleged victim’s testimony “was not credible”. The investigation uncovered that there was simply no evidence to support the charges of domestic violence against Mr. Chase and that the victim had, in fact, fabricated evidence.
While it’s bad enough that an innocent citizen has their lives upended on false evidence, Mr. Chase’s case was made into a “poster case” for victims’ advocates across the state. They decried Judge Casey Moreland for calling the judicial commissioner and recommending that Mr. Chase not be held for the 12 hour mandatory hold time that is typical on domestic violence cases. However, this hold is at the Judge’s discretion and can be waived. The Tennessee Legislature jumped on the bandwagon and actually changed our state’s domestic violence laws to make it harder on Judge’s to use their discretion on the mandatory hold. Think about it – our laws were changed based on lies. Will the Legislature be reversing their hasty decision in light of the new evidence?
I sign most of my blogs “In Defense of the Citizen Accused”. Nowadays, it seems that being accused of a crime is the same as being found guilty of a crime. It’s not. Innocent people are falsely accused of serious crimes everyday. I will continue to fight for my clients and strive for continued success in protecting their rights and preserving their freedom.
In Defense of the Citizen Accused,
Frank Lannom