[FL] Police Chief Adderley is a domestic violence victim - of attempted murder or nothing major?

Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley

BROWARD COUNTY'S PUBLIC DEFENDER, HOWARD FINKLESTEIN:
"The only way that was not an attempt to murder him would be if Mrs. Adderley were a CIA-trained marksman and was able to comfortably discharge the weapon knowing it would only land inches from his body."

Previous entry:
[FL] Eleanor shot at police chief husband "without intent to kill" - The wife of Police Chief Frank Adderley roused him from bed with a gunshot and then chased him from their Plantation house to a neighbor's, squeezing off more rounds as he ran away... "Despite this trying time, I support and stand by my wife," Frank Adderley said in a prepared statement released to the media. "I love her very much and will do everything possible to get whatever assistance she needs during this difficult time"...

From below:

Five women - four wearing wedding dresses - held signs on Broward Boulevard, and their organizer, Josie Ashton of Citizens Against Domestic Abuse, said they wanted to ensure people realized the police chief was a victim of domestic violence. No matter what caused Eleanor Adderley to shoot at her husband -- even if he was having an affair, Ashton said, "we don't want people in the community to let her go easy"...


"...As a criminal defense attorney for more than 10 years, I have never heard of police charging a defendant based on his or her own self-serving statements..."

Fort Lauderdale police chief's wife got special treatment after arrest, critics say
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Brian Haas bhaas@sun-sentinel.com
July 10, 2008
The wife of Fort Lauderdale's police chief waited only 12 hours after being booked on charges of shooting at her husband to see a judge and get permission to go home. While she went home, at least four people booked about the same time on lesser charges had to spend the night in a jail cell... Broward's public defender said the charges against her should have been harsher and most defendants don't get such special hearings.... "The only way that was not an attempt to murder him would be if Mrs. Adderley were a CIA-trained marksman and was able to comfortably discharge the weapon knowing it would only land inches from his body," Finklestein said... Eleanor Adderley was booked into the Broward County jail just before 5 a.m. Wednesday. Typically, suspects arrested after 3 a.m. have to wait until the following day to see a judge who will set their bond. Four people booked around the same time as Eleanor Adderley had to wait until Thursday morning to see a judge... Exactly how she got the special hearing in front of Judge Geoffrey Cohen Wednesday is unclear... Frank Adderley, in a written affidavit submitted at the hearing, worried for his wife's safety if she went to jail and said she had "medical issues that require continual treatment." He did not elaborate, but wrote he wanted the matter to be over. "I am willing to participate in family counseling in order to resolve this delicate family matter," he wrote. Frank Adderley agreed to post the $25,000 bond. Several posters on a courthouse gossip blog frequented by attorneys, jaablog.jaablaw.com, questioned the speed with which Eleanor Adderley was given a hearing. Finklestein doubted his clients, who can't afford private attorneys, would get the same treatment. "This situation indicates that there are two sets of rules and they do not apply equally," Finklestein said... Attorney Norm Kent said scoring an early hearing can depend on timing and the right attorney.... Christene Horne, the organizer of the protest, said the chief is reinforcing the idea that victims should reconcile with abusers. "This is what the movement has been fighting for decades: self-blaming," Horne said. "That is the typical domestic violence victim behavior"... [Full article here]

Critics: Lauderdale police chief's wife coddled in shooting
The arrest of the Fort Lauderdale police chief's wife has turned into a legal debate about fairness and nepotism -- with strong words on both sides.
Miami Herald
By Adam H. Beasley abeasley@MiamiHerald.com
Jennifer Mooney Piedra
Jul. 11, 2008
From police stations to the county courthouse, everybody was talking about the arrest of the Fort Lauderdale police chief's wife on Thursday - everyone except Chief Frank Adderley and wife Eleanor. Howard Finkelstein, Broward's public defender, insisted that Eleanor Adderley is getting preferential treatment from prosecutors and Plantation police, who opted not to charge her with attempted murder after she opened fire on her husband in their home. She is charged instead with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and firing into a dwelling. Defense attorney John P. Contini, a friend of the Adderleys, was just as adamant that she did not receive favorable treatment... In the middle: State attorney Sarahnell Murphy, the woman charged with prosecuting the case... The rhetoric ramped up Thursday when Broward County prosecutors announced they have no plans to recuse themselves in the state's case against Eleanor Adderley. That stand drew sharp and immediate criticism from Finkelstein, who said the chief's wife has benefited from favoritism. "I question whether or not a state attorney who depends upon the police to prosecute a lion's share of their cases can handle a case like this without it having some kind of effect," said Finkelstein, who has no ties to the case. "You can't serve two masters... I can tell you that my clients sitting in jail for the same type of offense are wondering why they are charged with attempted murder"... Five women - four wearing wedding dresses - held signs on Broward Boulevard, and their organizer, Josie Ashton of Citizens Against Domestic Abuse, said they wanted to ensure people realized the police chief was a victim of domestic violence. No matter what caused Eleanor Adderley to shoot at her husband -- even if he was having an affair, Ashton said, ``we don't want people in the community to let her go easy."... University of Miami criminal law professor Donald Jones agrees with Finkelstein that Adderley is receiving preferential treatment -- but that it's a matter of classism, not nepotism... At a rare late-afternoon bond hearing Wednesday, attorneys presented a sworn affidavit from Frank Adderley requesting his wife be released. That document, which states that Eleanor Adderley suffers from "medical issues," was released Thursday by her attorney, Robert Buschel. Contini, an attorney whose son is friends with the Adderleys' 14-year-old son, agrees. He believes there's a chance the charges are actually too harsh... Contini called Eleanor Adderley ``a wonderful woman and mother . . . [who] is the personification of integrity"... [Full article here]

Adderley shooting
Miami Herald
Posted on Sun, Jul. 13, 2008
...Any indigent defendant or one without connections in the same situation would be charged with attempted murder and held with no bond. Reports say that she shot at him while he was in bed. Then she allegedly ran after him still firing the weapon. This is attempted murder, not aggravated assault. Police say Eleanor Adderley said that she was trying to scare the chief and, presumably, that is why she was only charged with the aggravated assault. As a criminal defense attorney for more than 10 years, I have never heard of police charging a defendant based on his or her own self-serving statements. [Full comment here]