Domestic Violence Lethality Assessment

Lethality assessment is the attempt to identify the circumstances when a batterer is most dangerous by evaluating the batterer’s beliefs and patterns of violence, coercion, and control. The following information was developed by Barbara J. Hart, Esq. In Assessing Whether Batterer’s Will Kill. The assessment looks at a number of predictors. The underlying assumption is the higher the number of predictors, the higher the potential for the batterer to commit a homicide or engage in potentially lethal behaviors.

Predictors of Lethality Include:

• Threats of suicide or homicide including killing himself, the victim, children or relatives.
• Fantasies of homicide or suicide in the guise of fantasizing “who, how, when and/or where to kill.”
• Weapons owned by the perpetrator who has threatened to used them or has used them in the past (the use of guns is a strong predictor of homicide).
• Feelings of “ownership” of the victim.
• “Centrality” to the victim (idolizing and extreme dependence).
• Separation from the victim (this is an extremely dangerous time when perpetrators make the decision to kill).
• Dangerous behavior increases in degree with little regard for legal or social consequences.
• Hostage-taking
• Depression
• Repeated calls to the police.

Lethality assessments are more an art than a science and cannot be considered precise by any means. They are not a tool for certain prediction, but rather one for risk assessment and safety planning or intervention. Social service providers should error on the side of caution and inform their clients that any abuser can potentially be lethal.

Native American Indian Dogs

July 22, 2009

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Dog Takes Boy From Crib

McClathchy News Service

Nicholasville, KY.- A newborn who was snatched from a crib by a pet dog remained in critical condition Tuesday at University of Kentucky Hospital.

Alexander James Smith, the son of  Michael and Chrissie Smith, was in an upstairs crib when Dakota, a Native American Indian Dog, took the baby in it’s mouth.

The incident happened Monday afternoon, a day after the baby had been brought home, said Jassamine County Deputy Sheriff Anthony Purcell. Michael Smith spotted the dog, which was slightly larger than a collie, in the yard with the baby, but the dog ran into some woods with something in its mouth.

Hearing Alexander crying, Smith found him about 150 yards into the woods, Purcell said. The baby had cuts and puncture wounds to his torso and face.

Animal control officers took the dog, but it has not been destroyed, Purcell said.

The family had two Native American Indian D0gs and a Labrador retriever.

Soo Tribe Woman Sentenced to Prison for Knife Assault

For Immediate Release July 22, 2009

United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Michigan Contact: (616) 456-2404

MARQUETTE, MI—Lorraine Marie Smith, 45, of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for assault with a dangerous weapon, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. In addition to the prison term, Senior U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar ordered Smith to serve three years of supervised release following her release from prison, to pay a $100 special assessment, and to have no further contact with the victim. Smith pleaded guilty to a federal indictment charging her with assault with a dangerous weapon on January 20, 2009. The charge stemmed from an incident occurring on Bay Mills Indian Community lands in November 2008 during which Smith stabbed her boyfriend in the back with a 12-inch carving knife during the course of an argument. U.S. Attorney Davis commended the Bay Mills Tribal Police and the Chippewa County Sheriff Department as well as the FBI for their work in this case. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D. Lochner.