PD Editorial: Justice for those who defend themselves

Sonoma County has witnessed the worst of what can happen when appeals for help in domestic abuse cases go unanswered.

Last year, Petaluma teacher Kim Baucom Conover, the mother of four, was gunned down by her husband after talking to her attorney about getting a restraining order. Conover had been turned down twice before in seeking such a protective order, the last time just a week prior to her death.

The tragedy underscored the complexities of getting help for those trapped in abusive relationships. But sometimes help also is needed for those imprisoned for defending themselves. Glenda Virgil is one such person.

Court records show that Virgil, the victim of sexual abuse and incest at a young age, was living in an abusive relationship in San Diego County in 1987. When she attempted to leave, her partner, who had once tied her up and stabbed her in the leg with a hunting knife, confronted her and locked her in a bathroom. When she escaped, he beat her with a metal gas can, and they struggled with a gun. When Virgil gained control of the weapon, court records say, her partner lunged at her with a shovel, threatening to kill her. She fired, striking him in the chest and killing him. As a result, she was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 17 years to life in prison.

Virgil, 66, and battling lung cancer, had been denied parole eight times over the years. But earlier this month, the state parole board reversed itself, deciding that Virgil did not pose a risk to public safety and was thus suitable for parole.

The key difference was a bill by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, AB 1593, that requires the parole board to give "great weight to any information or evidence that, at the time of the commission of the crime, the prisoner had experienced intimate partner battering."

AB 1593 is one of two bills approved by the Legislature and signed into law last year that give more discretion to the judicial system in evaluating such cases. The other bill, AB 593, allows a retrial to be ordered if testimony relating to intimate partner battering and its effects was not presented during trial.

These laws will help a number of inmates - particularly women - fully explain the circumstances surrounding their crimes and have them more fairly evaluated.

Ma said she authored the legislation after seeing the documentary, "Sin of Silence," and meeting Brenda Clubine, one of the abused women prisoners featured in the film. Clubine, Ma said, "suffered years of abuse, bruises, broken bones, and skull fractures inflicted by her husband." During one altercation, she hit her husband over the head with a wine bottle, leading to her murder conviction. Although there were 11 restraining orders filed against him and a warrant for his arrest, Clubine was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

In 2008, Clubine was released on parole - after 24 years in prison - and continues, through her organization Convicted Women Against Abuse, to advocate for domestic violence survivors in prison.

There is no defense for domestic abuse. But as these stories illustrate, there's a case to be made for better justice for those guilty of self-defense. Leaders such as Assemblywoman Ma are making a good one.