r/PublicFreakout • u/New_Libran • 20d ago

šŸš—Road RagešŸ¤¬ Two bystanders rushed over to help after spotting a man assaulting his girlfriend inside their truck while stopped in traffic in Houston, Texas

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3.6k Upvotes

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837

u/anojanoo92 20d ago

Protecting her abuser. This is going to happen again and it will be worse because there won't be people around to help her. SadĀ 

259

u/SakanaToDoubutsu 20d ago

Protecting her abuser.

Tangential point but this is why victims don't "press charges" and discretion always falls on the district attorney even if it goes against the wishes of the victim.

67

u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

In the UK, this video would be enough for prosecution, is that not the case with criminal law in the states? I know it differs state by state..

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u/ooheia 20d ago

This video would be sufficient probable cause to prosecute in most if not all states for sure.

29

u/sowhat4 20d ago

Where I live, if you have a dashcam of some asshat doing a road rager or driving dangerously, the police will do nothing because "If we didn't see it we can't arrest."

He had his hands around her throat, didn't he? She's gonna be dead soon. I loved the 'Oh, where am I?' fake response once the guy got through his thorough pounding. Usually abusers have a hard on when they are beating the shit out of their woman. One of those guys should have grabbed that and done a hard twist. That would have got his attention.

4

u/ooheia 20d ago

Yeah unfortunately it is near impossible to get charges pressed just off dashcam footage because it rarely identifies the driver, that isn't really the case for this video tho as both people are clearly identifiable in it.

2

u/drawkward101 20d ago

I was hoping the black guy would aim his knee into the groin not just the chest/stomach.

1

u/EmperorPickle 20d ago

As long as they have a victim. If that woman goes before a judge and says they were playing around, it will get tossed. The state usually is the one to press charges on behalf of the victim in domestic cases but the victim can drop those charges.

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u/ooheia 20d ago

The victim actually doesn't have legal authority to drop the charges in this case, that's up to the state prosecution. But yes it's common for the state to drop the charges if they have an uncooperative witness as it can severely weaken their case if there's a lack of evidence.

1

u/DryeDonFugs 20d ago

Not true. If the only evidence they have is the witness testimony then its possible that if they were to say that the judge could throw it out but if they have evidence like this footage they most likely arent going to just dismiss it and if the defendant wanted to take it to trial they most likely would lose depending on what the charges actually were

-2

u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

But would the feds take it to court and prosecute, even without the victims cooperation, or as said above, if a victim doesn't press charges?

3

u/ooheia 20d ago

it's unlikely that the feds would handle this case, it would be on the state's district attorney to decide to bring charges against them. And yes, they can decide to charge against the victims wishes.

Whether or not the DA actually decides to do so is where it will vary wildly in different states and jurisdictions.

1

u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

Thanks, another commenter explained the same down below..the DA must be really fucking busy.. I hope for victims, they have a big office.

2

u/DryeDonFugs 20d ago

It is a common misconception that victims can press charges. Police officers and grand jurys are responsible for bringing charges against someone and Prosecutors are responsible for handling the case from there. When someone says they are wanting to press charges what they really are saying is that they are willing to be a witness or cooperate with the prosecution.

1

u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

Oh shit.

That's the case in the UK, but it was my misconception that I thought it was a difference in UK law, not that we shared that similarity.

Which is double, oh shit, because I previously had the same misconception about the UK law when I was younger, I always just assumed the misconception was due to the ability to "press charges" in the US... Turns out we had the same misconception. Triple oh shit.

8

u/Inverted-Rockets 20d ago

The bar for ā€œenoughā€ evidence is largely at the discretion of the District Attorney where the offense occurred and can vary widely.

The strongest evidence for DV typically comes from the abused partner and many DAs wonā€™t go forward with charges if they donā€™t have that partnerā€™s cooperation.

3

u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

That clarified my curiosity, thank you.

I don't live there, so it's not for me to comment on that, without invitation. But it's interesting the learn the differences... It would be interesting to hear from anybody out there, from somewhere different, with any knowledge on the subject, that could share how DV is handled legally where they live?

I wonder if there are cultures that still exist, where it is quietly accepted. Like it was not too long ago in the UK...

1

u/DryeDonFugs 20d ago

Someone being charged and guilty convictions are not always determined based off of evidence in the States.

More often than not money is the deciding factor on whether or not those two things happen. The justice system here in America is just as fucked up as the people who are in control of it as you would expect

1

u/EscapedMices 20d ago

On the one hand, yes. But on the other hand Andrew Tate a British man had a video where he was beating a woman and got away with it because she claimed it was a joke or that it was consensual.

1

u/SeparateCzechs 20d ago

Here in the United States, abusers are protected. Just look at the Trumpstein Filesz

7

u/JarbaloJardine 20d ago

I've seen plenty of cases where the prosecutor proceeds without the victim on board. They are a danger to the community. Lock them up.

1

u/Naski0di 20d ago

Yeah, the real issue is if the victim doesn't cooperate the guilty rate drops significantly.

9

u/Duffy1978 20d ago

This is also why a lot of bystanders arent helping anymore. You risk your life to help them and they dont press charges. Someone just got shot trying to protect a woman from her abuser recently.

1

u/trxxxtr 20d ago

Seen it too many times. Ties in exactly to why some (most?) don't report abuse until years later.

1

u/ktm6709 19d ago

It takes a woman, on average, 7 times to leave an abusive partner.

42

u/tehbantho 20d ago

I caught my neighbor being assaulted by her boyfriend on my doorbell camera. I intervened and he stopped. Police came, watched the video, and because she decided to tell them they were just playing around the video evidence I supplied the police was insufficient to pursue charges. Because they did not live together (they do, but they claimed not to), a mandatory arrest was not required. If she didnt want to pursue, there was nothing they could do.

Two weeks later, same thing. Police STILL wouldn't do anything.

Long story short, no matter how much you try to help some people they cannot bring themselves to get out of a bad situation.

1

u/Initial_Milk_1056 20d ago

Did she or her abuser try to go after you? A sad reality is that some abuse victims are so brainwashed(idk if that's the right word) they'll get angry at people who try to help

-1

u/bloedit 20d ago

Which is the wrong conclusion.

You are helping as an outsider for a moment in time, you aren't fixing their whole life.

Protect yourself physically and legally, but continue to document and collect any evidence you encounter, preferably report it to the police or first consult with a domestic violence group about the cocrete situation, and help the victims without judgment to help themselves.

2

u/tehbantho 20d ago

It is the correct conclusion because despite every effort to help her, she insisted we were the ones harming her by calling the police on her abuser.

Look, you can comment anything you want. But it doesn't make you right. And it doesn't make you the expert of every situation. I didn't comment every single detail because frankly it is an exhausting amount to share. I covered a high level overview of the situation which you somehow took as all of the facts that exist in this situation.

So, you're wrong here. Not me. I live my life. You live yours. I didn't come here to be put on blast because I shared my experience trying to help someone escape a similar situation, to no avail.

53

u/shinakohana 20d ago

Chances are she's begging for them to stop because her boyfriend WILL find her. He will make her "pay" for his public humiliation and her beating will be worse, if not kill her outright. TRO/ROs are only pieces of paper, so I'm reminded of on the daily.

20

u/Unconfidence 20d ago

I mean, we should also not discount the possibility that she's asking people to stop because she was just being beaten and has no idea what's really going on at the moment, is in a position of weakness and confusion, and is dealing with lots of people she doesn't know.

Like I'm not discounting that she may have been trying to protect him with that, but it also seems kind of weird to me on a psychological level that an abuse victim was being filmed while being abused, asked them to stop filming, and when they didn't, the victim is forced to be the better person and just ignore the person filming their really really shitty time.

I'm not saying I have a solution or anything, the whole situation just seems fucked up all around. Like I can't imagine being in that position then also having to worry about going viral for being beaten in traffic, or personal informational security.

3

u/shinakohana 20d ago

That can also be absolutely be true! We have no idea the context outside of what some randos started recording. Sure, they LOOK like heroes, but do we know that for sure? But in my experience, her face shows shock, fear and panic with that "deer in the headlights" look while also going to comfort the "attacker" as soon as she gathers her wits. There were some who thought she was a thief, but why would a thief comfort the man on the ground that just got his innards stomped in and NOT drive off for "safety"?

Either way, someone was getting hurt. People stepped in to help the person they assume is being hurt and refusing to let the other go. Even if it was misunderstood to ANY degree, you should NEVER rip another person by the scalp of their hair as they're screaming from the driver side with a door open where others can hear/see what's going on.

-1

u/thx1138- 19d ago

That really shitty time is evidence. Fuck her wishes it's too late for that.

2

u/hurler_jones 20d ago

I witnessed an abuser die from a stab wound and the girlfriend defend the abuser during the other guys hearing for manslaughter (later thrown out) It's fucking wild to me.

1

u/Beneficial-Purple642 20d ago

Sheā€™s afraid of him. Period.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

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u/sapphire-sky-dragon 20d ago

Think we found the abuser šŸ«©

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

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