MEMORANDUM, TO: FILE FROM: STEFANIE NEWMAN Assistant State Attomey in Charge Domestic Violence Unit DATE: 9-25-17 RE: State v. Jarvis Landry Case No. M15-8174 Charges: Battery (Domestic) On April 1, 2017 the Fort Lauderdale Police were dispatched to the residence of Jarvis Landry in response to a 911 call. The victim and defendant have a child in common and had recently resided together as a family. ‘The victim advised police that she had moved out of their shared residence three days earlier. She stated that the defendant had their daughter for the day and called or texted her to come pick up the baby. The victim advised that when she got there, the defendant brought the baby downstairs and put her in the back seat, at which time, the victim asked the defendant to stay with the baby while she went upstairs to retrieve some of her belongings. The victim advised officers that the defendant became verbally aggressive and said he did not want her in the apartment, She stated that the defendant then pushed her back by placing his hands on her chest and pushed her backwards into the vehicle, causing her to strike her back against the top of the vehicle. ‘The victim called her mother and sister who called police and responded to the scene, The victim was not injured and did not seek medical attention. The victim refused to provide a sworn statement to police on scene and advised that she did not want the defendant arrested or prosecuted. ‘The Officer noted in his report that he did not observe any visible signs of trauma to the victim, Additionally, the defendant was cooperative and provided a voluntary sworn statement to officers on scene. Similarly, the defendant advised that the victim came over for the custody exchange of their daughter and then wanted to go upstairs to retrieve some personal items, but he did not want her to do so. The defendant told the officers that the victim continued to try to get around him and he only stood with his arms by his side and his hands wide open, but he denied being physical with the victim. In his sworn statement, the defendant described to the Officer how he tried to block the victim from getting out of the car by standing in front of her and she hit his body and then got back in the truck. Officers did notice a surveillance camera pointed in the direction of the incident; however, they were unable to retrieve any video that evening, Without the video or cooperation of the vietim and considering the accounts of both parties, the police did not make an arrest that evening.‘After numerous attempts to obtain the surveillance video, the State Attorney's Office assisted the Fort Lauderdale Police Department by issuing a subpoena duces tecum and a portion of the video ‘was finally turned over to police. The video does not show what transpired before the incident when the victim arrived and the defendant came outside, nor does it show anything after the incident either. There is a very brief video of the incident itself, which will be discussed in ‘greater detail later in this memo, On July 20, 2017, the victim signed an affidavit and waiver of prosecution which was sent to the State Attomey’s Office and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. This case was presented to the State Attorney's Office for investigation on August 4, 2017. The 911 call was not initially ordered by the officers and therefore had not been preserved. The State Attorney's Office Domestic Violence Unit normally receives copies of all 911 calls flagged as domestic violence in Broward County. We did not receive this particular call and this ASA confirmed with BSO Communications that it was no longer available. However, this ASA was able to obtain the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) report with the incident details from BSO Communications. The incident report indicates that the victim’s sister called 911, where she advised the following, second hand information: she had received a call from her sister (the victim) who advised to call the police. The caller advised that it was unknown why her sister was crying and she didn’t advise. She told the dispatcher that her sister went to her boyfriend’s house to pick up her baby and advised that they have been having a lot of issues. ‘The caller advised that she was going to go there as well to find out what is going on. The report indicates possible domestic; however, since we were unable to obiain the actual call, it is unknown whether the caller actually stated that this was a possible domestic dispute or if that was the interpretation by the dispatcher from, the conversation with the caller. This ASA took the sworn statement of the victim on August 25, 2017. ‘The victim advised that on the date of the incident, she had just had a baby and was very emotional. At the time, her daughter was 4 months old, The victim confirmed that the police reports were accurate as to ‘what she told the police that night, but stated that she believes because of her emotional state, she exaggerated the whole situation. When she told the defendant she wanted to go upstairs to get some of her belongings and he told her no, he would box everything and have it sent to her, she “freaked out” and said she was calling her mom. The vietim stated that whenever she and the defendant were having disagreements, they tried to keep their families out of it and just work things out between them. She said the defendant did not want her to call and involve her mom, 0 he tried to reach for her phone. In doing so, she said that the defendant’s hand touched her cchest and she fell back; however, he did not intentionally push her. She advised that he did reach for the phone, ultimately grabbed the phone from her and then threw it back in the car. The vietim advised that she became hysterical, called her mother while crying and hung up. Her mother thought something had happened to her, notified her sister, and they both responded to the scene, She advised that her sister called the police to respond as well. This ASA took a break from the statement in order to play the surveillance video for the victim. ‘The victim was then asked on the record to explain what happened because the video appeared to show the defendant pushing the victim and then slapping her twice. The victim looked completely shocked and surprised when this ASA asked her about being slapped. ‘The victim 2said that the defendant never slapped her, he grabbed her phone and threw it back in the car. She was adamant that there was no slap, he merely reached for the phone. The victim further advised that she was not injured, and did not desire prosecution because she did not believe the defendant’s actions to be intentional. When questioned further, the victim stated that the defendant has never been physical with her in the past. Prior to the victim’s statement, this ASA had asked the State Attomney’s Office Information Technology Department to try to enhance the surveillance video and slow down the frames in order to print still photos of the incident. After the victim’s statement, this ASA returned to the State Attorney's Office Information Technology Department to review the video. State Attomey’s Office Certified Video Forensic Technician, Raul Palacios, was able to lighten the video without altering the speed, to enhance the visual clarity of the images depicted. Watching the video going frame by frame, you can actually see the victim holding what looks like a cellphone in her hand, you see the defendant grab something from the victim and then the defendant can be seen throwing an object into the vehicle which is seen flying across the inside of the car and is captured in the still photo of that frame of the video on the passenger side of the vehicle. The size of the object depicted could very easily be a cell phone. When watched carefully, the video is consistent with the victim’s account of the incident that the defendant did not slap her, but instead grabbed her phone and then threw it back into the car. Although the video very clearly shows the defendant push the victim backwards into the vehicle, the victim remains adamant that he was trying to reach for her phone, not touch or push her and that this was an unintentional act. Florida Statutes, § 784.03(1)(a)1. defines battery as the actual and intentional touching or striking of another person against their will. The victim maintains that the defendant did not intend to touch her strike her, but accidentally did so and may not have even realized that he had touched her chest as he reached for her phone. ‘There are no independent witnesses to this incident. The video surveillance of the incident appears to corroborate the victim’s account as well. Additionally, on Sept. 25, 2017, this ASA received a sworn affidavit from the property manager/records custodian for the defendant's building, Shawn Villarroel. Mr. Villarroel attested to the fact that there was nothing further related to the incident captured on video surveillance, other than what was provided to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Therefore, light of the above-referenced facts, there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction and it is the recommendation of this ASA that charges should be declined. STEFANH ‘MAN, E! Assistant State Attorney