[IN] Charges against Sgt Boocher DISMISSED? [It never stops being shocking.]

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGES DISMISSED AGAINST SOUTH BEND OFFICER WSBT
BY PABLO ROS
06/2/08
PROSECUTORS DISMISSED DOMESTIC BATTERY CHARGES AGAINST A SOUTH BEND POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS PLACED ON UNPAID LEAVE AFTER HIS WIFE ACCUSED HIM OF HITTING HER IN FRONT OF THEIR CHILDREN IN JANUARY 2007. LISA BOOCHER, THE WIFE OF WAYNE BOOCHER, TOLD A ST. JOSEPH SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE THURSDAY MORNING THAT WHILE SHE FORMERLY TOLD POLICE THAT HER HUSBAND HAD HIT HER OUTSIDE A TARGET STORE, CAUSING SOME BLEEDING, SHE IN FACT HAD HURT HERSELF. A ST. JOSEPH COUNTY DEPUTY PROSECUTOR ASKED JUDGE ROLAND W. CHAMBLEE JR. TO DISMISS CHARGES AGAINST BOOCHER BECAUSE THE VICTIM NO LONGER WISHED TO PROSECUTE AND BECAUSE A COPY OF A VIDEOTAPE RECORDING OF THE INCIDENT HAD NOT BEEN ADMITTED AT TRIAL. BOOCHER’S TRIAL FOR FELONY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WAS TO START MONDAY. [SOURCE & COMMENTS]

IN THE TEXT OF AN EMAIL FROM SOMEONE CLOSE TO BOOCHER, WHO ACTUALLY WROTE TO ME IN HIS DEFENSE, WAS THIS:

"...SIX EYE WITNESSES CLAIM HE LAYED IN WAIT FOR HER AND HIT HER AND DRUG HER AROUND THE PARKING LOT IN FRONT OF THEIR TWO CHILDREN..."

EXCERPTS FROM PAST NEWS:

01/28/07
A 40-YEAR-OLD SOUTH BEND POLICE OFFICER [WAYNE BOOCHER] HAS BEEN PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF BATTERING A WOMAN OUTSIDE A LOCAL TARGET STORE. SGT. WAYNE BOOCHER, A 15-YEAR VETERAN OF THE FORCE, WAS ARRESTED SATURDAY AFTER ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING THE FEMALE OUTSIDE OF TARGET... POLICE SAY WHEN THEY ARRIVED HE WAS IN AN ARGUMENT WITH A WOMAN, AND THAT WOMAN TOLD THEM BOOCHER ASSAULTED HER...

01/30/07
...SGT. WAYNE BOOCHER, 40, WAS CHARGED WITH TWO COUNTS OF MISDEMEANOR DOMESTIC BATTERY ALONG WITH ONE COUNT OF CLASS D FELONY DOMESTIC BATTERY... BOOCHER ALLEGEDLY DROVE TO THE STORE AND CROUCHED OUTSIDE THE EXIT DOORS, WAITING FOR HIS WIFE TO EXIT THE STORE... WHEN THE WOMAN LEFT THE STORE WITH THEIR CHILDREN, BOOCHER REPORTEDLY GRABBED THE WOMAN'S CELL PHONE AND STRUCK HER IN THE MOUTH... ALTHOUGH OFFICERS ASKED BOOCHER TO REMAIN AT THE STORE WHILE THEY DETERMINED WHAT HAPPENED, THE MAN TOOK HIS CHILDREN AND DROVE HOME...

02/27/07
...MARK LENYO, ATTORNEY FOR OFFICER WAYNE BOOCHER, ASKED JUDGE ROLAND W. CHAMBLEE JR. TO PROHIBIT TARGET EMPLOYEES FROM TESTIFYING AT BOOCHER'S UPCOMING TRIAL IN LIEU OF A SURVEILLANCE TAPE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN RULED OUT AS EVIDENCE BECAUSE OF ITS POOR CONDITION... WITNESSES SAY HE WAS ARGUING WITH HIS WIFE AND HIT HER IN THE MOUTH, IN FRONT OF TWO OF THEIR CHILDREN... HE IS SCHEDULED TO GO ON TRIAL AUGUST 9TH. IF CONVICTED, HE WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO CARRY A GUN OR SERVE AS A POLICE OFFICER.

03/01/07
A SOUTH BEND POLICE OFFICER ACCUSED OF HITTING HIS WIFE IN FRONT OF THEIR CHILDREN OUTSIDE A TARGET STORE RECEIVED PERMISSION THIS WEEK TO SEE HIS WIFE AGAIN... ACCORDING TO ST. JOSEPH COUNTY POLICE REPORTS, THE JAN. 27 INCIDENT WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME OFFICERS HAD BEEN CALLED REGARDING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BETWEEN THE BOOCHERS. POLICE WERE CALLED TO THE BOOCHERS' MILLER ROAD HOME THREE TIMES IN 2005...

01/28/08
A TEARFUL LISA BOOCHER SAYS SHE WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW SHE LIED WHEN SHE ACCUSED HER HUSBAND OF ASSAULTING HER A YEAR AGO... DEPUTY PROSECUTOR CORY HAMEL SAYS THE CASE WILL PROCEED AS PLANNED. IT IS SET FOR TRIAL IN APRIL. HAMEL, WHO IS HANDLING THE CASE FOR THE PROSECUTOR'S FAMILY VIOLENCE UNIT, SAYS IT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE TO CHANGE THEIR STORIES OR TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS ABOUT PROSECUTING… BOTH OF THEM DENY THE CHARGES, BUT THEY SAY NO ONE WILL LISTEN... WAYNE WAS LOCKED IN HIS CAR BUT SAYS HE ROLLED THE WINDOW DOWN PARTWAY SO THEY COULD TALK... LISA, HE SAYS, REACHED INTO THE CAR WITH BOTH HANDS, GRABBING THE STEERING WHEEL WITH ONE AND TURNING THE KEY WITH THE OTHER. SHE SAYS SHE ALSO WAS TRYING TO STICK HER HEAD THROUGH THE WINDOW. SHE SAYS SHE MIGHT HAVE HIT HER LIP ON THE WINDOW OR FRAME… “I'M SORRY I RUINED HIS LIFE BECAUSE I THOUGHT I COULD GET EVEN WITH HIM."... ON JAN. 30, 2007, JUST THREE DAYS AFTER THE TARGET INCIDENT, LISA SAYS, SHE AGAIN ACCUSED WAYNE OF ABUSING HER. A SCHOOL BUS DRIVER, SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO WORK THAT EVENING BUT FELL ASLEEP BECAUSE OF THE DRUGS SHE WAS TAKING. HER DAUGHTER WOKE HER UP, SHE SAYS, AND SHE ENDED UP FALLING DOWN 14 STEPS. SHE TOLD THE AMBULANCE PERSONNEL THAT WAYNE HAD PUSHED HER, SHE SAYS, BUT WAYNE WASN'T EVEN IN THE HOUSE. HE WAS OBEYING A NO-CONTACT ORDER ISSUED AFTER HIS ARREST, SHE SAID. LISA'S MOTHER CAME OVER TO WATCH THE KIDS WHILE SHE WENT TO THE HOSPITAL, LISA SAYS, AND ENDED UP FALLING DOWN THE SAME STEPS THREE HOURS LATER. WAYNE THEN WENT TO THE HOUSE TO CARE FOR THE KIDS WHILE HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW WENT TO THE HOSPITAL, AND HE FOUND A SUICIDE NOTE LISA WROTE. SHE SPENT A DAY IN MADISON CENTER AS A RESULT, LISA SAYS. WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF THE TARGET INCIDENT, LISA SAYS, SHE TRIED TO RECANT HER STORY, BUT NOBODY WOULD BELIEVE HER. THE TARGET INCIDENT WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME SHE AND WAYNE HAD BEEN IN A PHYSICAL ALTERCATION. LISA HAD BEEN THREATENED WITH A BATTERY CHARGE AS A RESULT OF A CHRISTMASTIME FIGHT IN 2005, WHEN SHE WAS UPSET ABOUT A FAMILY MATTER, SHE SAYS. WAYNE SAYS
LISA "WIGGED OUT AND BEAT ME UP."
"I BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF HIM," LISA AGREES. SHE BLAMES THAT INCIDENT ALSO ON HER USE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. WAYNE CALLED THE POLICE ON HER, AND HE SAID AT FIRST THEY WANTED TO ARREST HIM. HE'S A BIG, HULKING GUY. LISA, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS SLENDER AND A LOT SHORTER THAN WAYNE. A POLICE REPORT LISTS HIM AS THE VICTIM AND LISA AS THE SUSPECT. LATER THAT DAY, POLICE RETURNED TO THE BOOCHER HOME, AND LISA TOLD THEM WAYNE HAD PINNED HER BENEATH THE STEERING WHEEL OF THEIR TRUCK AFTER ANOTHER FIGHT. NEITHER PARTY WANTED TO PRESS CHARGES... THAT POLICE REPORT LISTS LISA AS THE VICTIM AND WAYNE AS THE SUSPECT. LISA ENDED UP SPENDING THE NIGHT SOMEWHERE ELSE. WHEN SHE RETURNED THE NEXT DAY, WAYNE SAYS, HE LEFT THE HOUSE WITH THEIR SON. THEN LISA CALLED POLICE AGAIN TO SAY THAT WAYNE HAD PUSHED HER AGAINST A GARAGE DOOR. WAYNE SAID HE WASN'T EVEN THERE AT THE TIME, AND LISA ACTUALLY HAD SLIPPED AND FALLEN AGAINST THE GARAGE DOOR...LISA SAYS SHE WILL TESTIFY THAT WAYNE NEVER HIT HER WHEN HIS CASE GOES TO TRIAL THIS SPRING. BUT HAMEL SAYS THE PROSECUTOR HAS OTHER WITNESSES. OTHER EVIDENCE? A MORE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM COULD BE THE DESTRUCTION OF A SURVEILLANCE TAPE THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A KEY PIECE OF EVIDENCE. WAYNE'S ATTORNEY, MARK LENYO, FILED A CHALLENGE TO THE TAPE IN EARLY AUGUST. THE CHALLENGE SAYS THE TAPE HAD NOT BEEN PROPERLY PRESERVED AND WAS DEGRADED BY REPEATED VIEWINGS... THE STATE HAS ASKED THE JUDGE TO ALLOW TARGET EMPLOYEES TO TESTIFY ABOUT WHAT THEY SAW ON THE TAPE BEFORE IT WAS DESTROYED, HAMEL SAYS. BUT A DEFENSE MOTION IS PENDING TO BAR THAT TESTIMONY. THE PROSECUTOR'S WITNESS LIST INCLUDES SEVERAL EYEWITNESSES TO THE ALLEGED ASSAULT, INCLUDING THE BOOCHERS' CHILDREN, AN 8-YEAR-OLD SON AND 11-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER...