California is home to the largest U.S. women's prison, located in Chowchilla. Women represent the fastest growing sector of the prison population nationwide and in the state. And the Habeas Project says about two-thirds of women behind bars report they are survivors of domestic abuse. One of those women was Deborah Peagler.
Peagler says her boyfriend started abusing her shortly after they began dating at age 15. She says he was upset with her because she refused to prostitute herself.
DEBORAH PEAGLER: I just balled up on the floor in a ball, I'll never forget, he was kicking me and kicking me and kicking me. And I was like, "I promise, I promise, I'll do it next time. Please don't hit me no more, please don't hit me no more, please stop hitting me."
Debi Peagler speaks from Chowchilla prison in a new documentary based on her story called "Crime After Crime." The film shows how the abuse escalated: after she says her partner threatened to kill her, Debi Peagler was involved in her abuser's murder. Though she wasn't present when he was killed, that involvement landed her in prison for 25 years to life.
PEAGLER: Even though I hated him and I was mad at him, I still didn't want him dead; I just wanted him to leave me alone. That's all I keep saying 20 years later - if only he would have just left me alone.
In 2002, California was the first state to pass what is known as the Habeas Law. It allows any female prisoner who has suffered domestic violence related to the crime to submit evidence of that abuse and retry her case. Through the San Francisco-based Habeas Project, Debi Peagler was paired up with two pro bono lawyers, Nadia Costa and Joshua Safran, both land-use lawyers without much experience trying criminal cases like Peagler's. Their work to free Peagler revealed some startling facts surrounding her conviction, and ultimately made it clear that she should have only served six years for her crime. Joshua Safran spoke with KALW's Martina Castro about what it was like to work with Debi Peagler on her case.
Read the rest of this article at KALWNews.org
No comments:
Post a Comment