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American Morning

Tale of Woman Who Spoke Limited English and Was Repeatedly Turned Away by Police

Aired June 19, 2002 - 09:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It's a disturbing tale of a terrified woman who spoke very limited English and who repeatedly turned to law enforcement for help and was repeatedly turned away. It finally cost her her life. And there's more to this story, too.

The police officer who took many of Teresa's phone calls was himself the subject of two restraining orders from women in his life. And there is the larger question to this story. Are poor women or Hispanic women less likely to get help from police when they are victims of domestic violence?

From San Francisco, Tanya Brannan, spokesperson for the Macias family, and Richard Seltzer, the family's attorney -- good morning to both of you.

TANYA BRANNAN, PURPLE BERETS: Good morning.

RICHARD SELTZER, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: Good morning.

HEMMER: Tanya, there are countless domestic abuse calls in this country almost on a daily basis, unfortunately. Why did you believe this case had to be carried through? Why did you pick up on it?

BRANNAN: Well, Marie DeSantes (ph), with the Women's Justice Center, and I, as soon as we saw the report of the homicide in the newspaper, we suspected that there was a great deal of prior contact with law enforcement. Because domestic violence doesn't -- homicide doesn't come out of nowhere, it only comes after a long history.

And so we investigated, and because Teresa had so meticulously documented her case, because there had been witnesses to most of her contact with the sheriff's department, because there was some one translating, we saw that it was such a perfectly-documented case that it really had the potential to change the world. And that's what it has done.

HEMMER: It is said, Tanya, that Teresa phoned police 20 times at least, possibly more. Part of those phone calls now in 911 clip here.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TERESA MACIAS: Hi. Somebody can speak Spanish?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

MACIAS: OK. We'll try to speak English.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

MACIAS: I want to make -- want to report, because I have a restraining order. My husband, he was very close to my mother. She has a restraining order against my husband. My mother was in the car. My husband, he put a letter on the car.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HEMMER: Tanya, the judge in this case had said at one time that if the husband wanted to kill Teresa he would have found a way eventually. Is there any truth in that, do you believe?

BRANNAN: Perhaps that would have been a possibility. But if Avolino (ph) Macias had been arrested by police, as they were mandated to do by their own policy and state law, even if he weren't put in jail the first time, by the 20th time he would have been put away somewhere. Teresa was waiting to get free of him. As soon as he got put some place where she was safe for a short time, she was fleeing with her children to another area to try to escape.

HEMMER: I want to play one more 911 clip. And in this you can clearly tell the language gap that was present in this story.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DISPATCHER: Has he been violent to her in the past?

MACIAS: Mucho, mucho.

TRANSLATOR: Much, much.

DISPATCHER: OK, we're going to have a deputy come and take the report. And if he shows up -- if he comes over there, or you know, anything like that, tell her to call us on 911 again.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HEMMER: Richard, this was a settlement and not a conviction. Why settle?

SELTZER: The family had been going through this litigation for nearly five years. It had been at one point dismissed by the first judge on the case. We took it up to the ninth circuit court of appeals that was reversed. We were assigned for retrial.

We began the trial, there had been no offer by the county for all this time. And finally they saw what we were going to present at this trial and that we were going to get this case heard by a jury. And the family felt that they were able to make their point, that the victims of domestic violence have to be treated fairly and equally by law enforcement. And also, there are children involved in this case, and the fact that the case would have been appealed even if we won, as we expected to, would have been another two or three years. And the family basically thought that enough was enough. Let's get some closure and let's make our point.

HEMMER: Richard, do you believe, though, as an attorney you would have had a more precedent-setting case if indeed you got a conviction from jurors and not just a settlement?

SELTZER: Well, as a trial attorney, we always want to go to trial and get a verdict from a jury and then get that upheld on appeal. But you also represent people. And these people, the children of Maria Teresa Macias, need to go on with their lives and get a good education and get a good start in life and get a little piece of justice, even if nothing can repay them for losing their mother. But they can get something.

BRANNAN: But...

HEMMER: Make it quick, Tanya, please.

BRANNAN: Even without a jury verdict, this is the first time ever that law enforcement has had to pay for their accountability in a domestic violence homicide. The ninth circuit opinion established women's rights to sue law enforcement for their failure to protect them equally. So it's a ground-breaking case.

HEMMER: All right. Sorry I'm out of time here. Wish we had more. We should mention, though, the police officer was fired. And Sonoma County right now has new domestic abuse team also to help other women in that part of California.

Thanks, Tanya Brannan, Richard Seltzer...

BRANNAN: Thank you.

HEMMER: ... live in San Francisco.

SELTZER: Thank you.

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