By Alexander Ramirez
SACRAMENTO – A total of seven cases of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant occurred on Feb. 19 in Sacramento court under Judge Scott Tedmon—and some allegedly involved some very violent and potentially quite violent activity.
While these domestic violence cases are not uncommon—increasingly so, it seems, since COVID, there were a fair amount of extreme cases involving breaking into the victim’s house, and another case that involved threatening the victim with a gun.
Allen Richardson was in court for arraignment and bail review on four different counts, including a willful ignoring of a court order and vandalism. He requested O.R. (released on his own recognizance with any bail amount due) because Richardson would reliably attend court by living with a pastor in Stockton and is currently on paid leave from his job with kidney failure and dialysis.
This was opposed by Deputy District Attorney Teal Ericson, who said Richardson violated a temporary restraining order about five days after the order was issued by entering the victim’s house and yelling at her that her restraining order was “no good.” Another instance occurred Feb. 17 in which the victim came home to find Richardson already there. He fled once the police were called.
Because of these instances and a criminal record, Judge Tedmon denied the O.R., set a $5,000 bail, and issued a no contact order. This matter was set to resume March 1.
Another extreme case involved Marcellus Johnson, who was in court for threats to commit a crime resulting in great bodily injury and corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant.
O.R. was also requested on the basis that the incidents occurred eight months and a year ago, the defendant has a stable job as a maintenance technician of sorts, can live with family members in Sacramento, and is currently involved in a custody battle with the complaining witness.
However, DDA Ericson continued to read off case details, alleging that on Jan. 20 Johnson struck the victim while a child was present in the room, after accusing the victim of having affairs with other men, which ended with a laceration under the eye of the victim.
On June 23, a series of text messages were sent to the victim after Johnson was not contacted on Father’s Day. The DDA alleged these messages, and others, were sent:
“I’m really going to come down and air that b**** out.”
“I’m not your nerd-a** boyfriend who pull a gun out and don’t shoot.”
“I promise I’m going to shoot that house.”
“I just ordered an AR, keep playing with me.”
“When my sh** ready I’m sliding on you and that house better be empty.”
“When I air that sh** out, I’m disappearing.”
Supervising Public Defender Joe Cress noted that he did not have possession of the aforementioned texts, and that Johnson was reliably attending court. Cress also noted the victim has a conviction for domestic violence against the defendant in 2008 for which she is still on probation.
Judge Tedmon denied the O.R. on conditions, and the bail for Johnson was reset at $50,000. Matters were scheduled for March 1.
Alexander Ramirez is a third-year Political Science major at the University of California, Davis. He hopes to hone his writing skills in preparation for the inevitable time of graduation.
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