Just a few quick bits to update the story of the pregnant 19 year old, Noellee Mowatt, who was jailed earlier this month on a material witness warrant:
- It turns out the baby is not due April 15, but rather May 15. So while Noellee is still “very” pregnant, the worry over her delivering her baby in jail is a tad exaggerated;
- Noellee appeared at the trial of her boyfriend Chris Harbin on Friday, and although she is due to return to finish her testimony she was set free;
- When questioned about her 911 calls in December, Noellee downplayed the violence. She was shown photos of the bruises on her face, and she claimed she had bumped into a wall. When questioned about other marks of violence she said she must have slept on something hard in the bed. She says she was angry when she called 911, and that she lied out of spite.
Sources:
“Pregnant teen released from jail after testifying in boyfriend’s trial” (CBC News)
“UPDATE: Pregnant woman to be freed after testimony” (Chris Wattie, National Post)
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Tags: 19 year old pregnant woman, 9 months pregnant, anger management, courts inability to deal with spousal abuse, domestic violence, give birth in jail, jailed teen released, material witness, Noelly Mowatt, Ontario, Pregnancy, pregnant teen jailed, Toronto, Vanier Centre for Women
No one, it seems, wants to talk about the fact that Mr. Harbin (the boyfriend) is incarcerated for something the witness now says – under oath – that he did not do. The logic seems to be that if a woman says she has been abused then she is telling the truth but if she says she has not been abused then she is lying: ergo the defendant is >always< guilty. Why do we bother with the trial? Just point the finger, have someone thrown in jail and run away.
Uncontainable Spirit,
False allegations are most assuredly a problem. We’ve all heard of men being falsely accused of sexual assault & ending up with their lives completely destroyed – and the lives of their spouses and children too…
Your concern for Mr Harbin is admirable, however I’m more inclined to believe this is a case of a real assault victim backing down when pressed to testify. The information I was able to gather showed that police took photographs of Ms Mowatt with bruises and other injuries that strongly suggest she was beaten. In court she said she banged into the wall or slept on a hard object, but those explanations weren’t consistent with the type of marks that were on her body. (I have a girlfriend who was the victim of spousal abuse, and she also “banged into” a lot of walls and doors before she was safely away from her abuser. This is a common cover story.)
Also, I wanted to say that Mr Harbin being in jail was not the direct result of Ms Mowatt’s accusations. It is my understanding most people charged with spousal abuse are released pending trial. Mr Harbin was being held for a number of reasons, including breach of probation. He was charged with several offenses besides spousal abuse, and I am not sure that they were all in relation to Ms Mowatt. If he is found innocent of all charges he will be released.
While the rights of the accused are an important factor in any discussion of justice, I think it would be difficult to say that Mr Harbin was a law abiding citizen who was railroaded by a spiteful girlfriend.
Thanks for contributing to the discussion!
Ruby