[NY] Niagra Falls Officer Feldhousen wants different DA for his wife beating case

UPDATES: FELDHOUSEN FOUND GUILTY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSAULT. SENTENCED TO 3 YEAR PROBATION, 27 WEEKS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CLASSES, COMMUNITY SERVICE AND 8 YEAR PROTECTION ORDER. THEN FELDHOUSEN FOUND TO BE IN VIOLATION OF PROBATION WITH ALCOHOL AND WEAPONS AND IS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE PROBATION.

Niagara Falls Police Officer Mark Feldhousen is accused of ramming his girlfriend into bedroom dressers in her home, causing her to suffer a concussion, a punctured eardrum, and multiple serious bruises. Currently he is objecting to District Attorney Michael J. Violante having anything to do with his case because Violante represented him years ago in a divorce, as a private attorney, that had domestic violence elements . Violante knows too much about him. Niagara County Judge Matthew Murphy says he will rule by March 22 on whether a special prosecutor is needed.

UPDATES - EXCERPTS FROM ARTICLES SINCE THIS POST:

VICTIM TAKES THE STAND IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE OF FALLS POLICE OFFICER
Niagara Gazette
By Rick Pfeiffer
April 27, 2011
...“He grabbed me and slammed me on the bed,” she told the jury of eight men and four women hearing her domestic violence case. “As I was pushing with my hands on the bed, he grabbed my body and threw me into the dresser ... As I started to stand up I was slammed into the other dresser. Then I was hit again. I dropped to my knees.” The woman suffered bruises on her face, arms, back and legs. She also suffered a concussion and a ruptured eardrum... [Defense attorney Jon] Wilson told the jurors that prosecutors will have to prove that the victim’s dresser was “a dangerous instrument... It’s not a club, it’s not a sharp object, it’s not a baseball bat,” Wilson said. “It’s a dresser. They’re saying a dresser was used as a dangerous instrument”... Falls police Superintendent John Chella has said his department investigated the allegations and his detectives arrested Feldhousen... http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x1250115137/Victim-takes-the-stand-in-domestic-violence-case-of-Falls-police-officer

FALLS POLICE OFFICER TELLS JURY HE WAS ASSAULT BY EX-GIRLFRIEND.
Niagara Gazette
By Rick Pfeiffer
April 28, 2011
...Niagara Falls Policer] Officer Mark Feldhousen said it was him who was attacked, by an out-of-control woman who was accusing him of infidelity in their relationship... “I went to bed after the third time of hearing (about) the (infidelity) she’d brought up (weeks earlier),” Feldhousen said. “She walked through the (bedroom) door and started screaming at me and she climbed on top of me.” The 6-foot-4, 235 pound police officer said the woman, who is 5-foot-4 and weighs about 111 pounds, then ripped his clothes off. “Her hands grabbed the top of my pajamas and ripped them straight back,” Feldhousen said. “I was screaming, asking her to get off me, (asking) ‘What are you doing?’ ” Feldhousen said the woman ran her fingers down his back leaving deep scratches, but not causing him to bleed. He said after ripping the top of his pajamas off, the woman reversed her position on the bed and then ripped the bottom of his pajamas and inflicted puncture wounds behind his knees... The defense offered no documentation of Feldhousen’s injuries other than the ripped pajamas... http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x1250117227/Falls-Police-officer-tells-jury-he-was-assault-by-ex-girlfriend

JURY ACQUITS FALLS COP ON FELONY CHARGE, BUT CONVICTS ON MISDEMEANOR
Niagara Gazette
By Rick Pfeiffer
May 3, 2011
A Niagara County Court jury has found a Niagara Falls Police officer guilty in a domestic violence case. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for about four hours before returning their verdict. They acquitted Mark Feldhousen of a felony count of second-degree assault, but found him guilty of a so-called lesser, included offense of third-degree assault... “I think maybe the jury felt more comfortable with third-degree assault,” Assistant District Attorney Lisa Baehre said. “They may have had trouble with (the idea of a) dresser as a weapon”... Feldhousen, who is currently on paid administrative leave from the police department, faces a possible sentence of one year in jail or three years probation when he is sentenced in June. Falls Police Superintendent John Chella said the department will now “explore all our options with regard to (Feldhousen’s) future employment.” “A jury of his peers has spoken,” Chella said. “We will see what happens from this point forward.” Baehre said the former girlfriend was “very happy” with the verdict. http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x277109493/Jury-acquits-Falls-cop-on-felony-charge-but-convicts-on-misdemeanor

FORMER FALLS COP AVOIDS JAIL TIME ON ASSAULT CONVICTION IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE
Niagara Gazette
By Rick Pfeiffer
June 22, 2011
NIAGARA FALLS — A former Niagara Falls Police officer will spend three years on probation for his assault conviction in a domestic violence case. Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III imposed the sentence on Mark Feldhousen on Wednesday. The judge also ordered the now retired police officer to attend a 27-week domestic violence counseling program and to perform four weekends of service as part of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office Work Program. Feldhousen could have faced up to a year in the Niagara County jail after a County Court jury found him guilty, in early May, of third-degree assault... The 38-year veteran of the Falls police force, had little to say during his sentencing. “I’m very sorry for being involved in any of this,” Feldhousen told Murphy, while asking that he be sentenced to probation. “I thought the (jury) verdict was fair,” Murphy told Feldhousen. “I thought you were guilty of reckless assault.” The judge also imposed an order of protection, lasting eight years, that bars Feldhousen from any contact with the victim, his one-time girlfriend and fiancee. Feldhousen must also spend four weekends, between now and November, performing community service as part of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office Work Program... The victim, speaking softly and reading from a letter to the judge, said the assault was “violent and horrific...  know he could have killed me and I’m lucky he didn’t“... Assistant District Attorney Lisa Baehre said the nature of the case was “a perfect example of why (domestic violence) victims are terrified to go forward... This is the perfect case for victims of domestic violence to understand the importance of going forward (with their cases),” the prosecutor told the judge. “(It proves) that people will believe them, that juries will believe them, that the courts will believe them... This is a man society entrusted to protect it,” Baehre said. “This is a man we trusted to take care of the citizens of Niagara Falls. This is a man who knew better”... http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x1277744856/Former-Falls-cop-avoids-jail-time-on-assault-conviction-in-domestic-violence-case

EX-FALLS COP MARK FELDHOUSEN ADMITS TO VIOLATING PROBATION
Niagara Gazette
By Rick Pfeiffer
December 7, 2011
Former Falls cop Mark Feldhousen told a Niagara County Court judge on Wednesday that he violated his terms of probation, but he didn’t mean to do it. Feldhousen admitted that he had “alcohol hidden in his home” and what Judge Matthew J. Murphy III said, “could be described as weapons” there as well. However, the long-time Falls police officer told Murphy he could “explain” the violations. He told Murphy that the day a probation officer discovered the booze and weapons, he had learned that his son and daughter-in-law were going to have a baby and he had been approved for benefits that would allow him to purchase a “home in Cambria.” “As far as the alcohol, there is no justification,” Feldhousen told the judge. “I messed up and went out and got some wine and a video (to celebrate the good news).” Feldhousen also described a knife, found in his home, as “the size of a Swiss army knife” and said ammunition in the house was leftover from his time on the Falls Police Pistol Team. He also said he didn’t realize a collection of police “night sticks” violated the terms of his probation. Murphy accepted Feldhousen’s guilty plea to the probation violations and set a sentencing date of Feb. 1... http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x371743718/Ex-Falls-cop-Mark-Feldhousen-admits-to-violating-probation

FELDHOUSEN TO REMAIN ON PROBATION
Niagara Gazette
By Rick Pfeiffer
February 1, 2012
Former Falls cop Mark Feldhousen will go back on probation, after admitting he had violated his original sentence in a domestic violence case. Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III said Wednesday he would allow Feldhousen to resume his probation sentence after his conviction on a charge of third-degree assault. A Niagara County Court jury found Feldhousen guilty in May of throwing his then-girlfriend into a pair of dressers in the bedroom of her home during a “violent rage” in November 2010... In re-sentencing Feldhousen, Murphy said, “You get no special treatment because of your former status as a police officer”... Murphy said he reinstated the probation sentence because Feldhousen was complying with a requirement that he get substance abuse treatment... Murphy could have sentenced Feldhousen to up to a year in the Niagara County Jail for his violation. http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x1500479469/Feldhousen-to-remain-on-probation
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