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Though former Orioles pitcher Scott Erickson tried to avoid a fight with an out-of-control girlfriend, the authors say, he still found himself in handcuffs under Maryland's mandatory-arrest policy in domestic-abuse complaints. |
WASHINGTON--An impor-
This was wrong, as the team admitted after widespread criticism, and Myers took a leave of absence. However, in many domestic-violence cases, the men arrested do deserve the open mind and support that the Phillies' erroneously extended Myers. Spousal-abuse arrests are often dubious, in part because of misguided domestic-violence laws and law enforcement policies.
Seattle police lieutenant Greg Schmidt, who created the Seattle Police Department's domestic-violence investigation unit in 1994, says that the mandatory-arrest laws of most states force police officers to make arrests "in petty incidents, often where the abuse is mutual or it is unclear who the aggressor was."
Moreover, Schmidt asserts, the "dominant aggressor" doctrine instructs police to downplay who struck the first blow in a domestic incident, and discourages dual arrests, which are often an appropriate measure. Instead, officers are pressured to see men and only men as the offenders.
Spurious spousal-abuse accusations and domestic-violence restraining orders are often used as legal maneuvers in divorce cases. The State Bar of California's Family Law Section recently complained that these tactics are "increasingly being used in family law cases to help one side jockey for an advantage in child custody." They're "part of the gamesmanship of divorce," one attorney recently stated in the Illinois Bar Journal.
An excellent example of what can happen to an athlete, or any man, is the saga of another major-league pitcher arrested for spousal abuse--Scott Erickson.
Police arrested Erickson after he called them during an altercation with his girlfriend in July 2002. Baltimore police concluded that Erickson's girlfriend, Lisa Ortiz (1) initiated the fight by hurling objects; (2) decided to come back twice after Erickson carried her out of the apartment; (3) repeatedly kicked the apartment door; (4) caused Erickson two minor injuries, one of them to his pitching arm; and (5) herself suffered no injuries.
Nonetheless, the police arrested Erickson under Maryland's mandatory-arrest law. Afterward, Ortiz publicly stated that Erickson, who did not pursue her either time after carrying her out, "has never been physically abusive toward me."
After Erickson's arrest he was excoriated by sportswriters and domestic-violence activists. Later, even as a police spokesperson announced that the charges against Erickson were being dropped, the spokesperson continued to refer to Ortiz as "the victim." To this day, the influential Family Violence Prevention Fund lists Erickson in its "Hall of Shame."
In another case, Houston Astros shortstop Julio Lugo was arrested for a misdemeanor assault on his wife in April 2003. Though Lugo maintained his innocence, the Astros--perhaps acting on the stereotype of Latin men as wife-beaters--got rid of him within hours of the incident. However, at Lugo's trial his wife absolved him of guilt, and he was acquitted.
Contrary to the charges leveled by the Phillies' numerous critics, the club wasn't wrong in its desire to afford its player the benefit of the doubt. The problem is that in Myers' case there is no doubt.
However, the next time an athlete is arrested for domestic violence, there probably will be. Will the team involved turn its back on its player because of the precedent set in the Myers case?
MIKE McCORMICK is executive director of the American Coalition
