Nearly three years ago Desirae Glatfelter was arrested after she bit off part of her ex-boyfriends tongue. At the time, Glatfelter insisted that she had been fearful for her life and she acted in self-defense but a jury still found her guilty for aggravated domestic assault. She ended up serving the maximum sentence for the crime of one year behind bars. Glatfelter never thought she would ever get another chance to tell her side of the story but that was until last week when a Michigan Appeals court ruled that her rights were violated when her lawyer at the time failed to give timely notice to the judge about an expert who could testify on her behalf.
According to court documents, the expert would have explained to jurors why women would use force in some circumstances. Here is John Zevalking -- Glatfelter’s attorney during the appeal process.
“A battered woman’s syndrome, battered person’s syndrome, there are circumstances where the normal person, you or I, or whoever has not been through this or doesn’t have the context presented by an expert to understand when that person might feel a threat or how that person might respond to a threat.”
There is no actual research on exactly how many survivors have been locked up for self-defense, but according to the non-profit organization, Survived and Punished, victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence are often prosecuted as perpetrators for defending themselves.
Today Glatfelter has to wait for the Michigan Supreme Court and the Kent County Prosecutor’s office to decide if another case will be opened against her, but if she does go back to trial and the jury finds her guilty of a misdemeanor, she’s afraid she might have to do more time in jail.
“You know they could decide if they go back to trial or not or if there is enough evidence or if the evidence doesn’t look strong enough for the prosecution side and hopefully, I just pray that I get a fair trial this time…”
Michelle Jokisch Polo, WGVU News.