4A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2005
SOCIAL WELFARE
Help available for violence victims
BY STEVE LYNN
slynn@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITE
Casey Spencer and the School of Social Welfare are trying to help victims of domestic violence, for the first time, use an array of services Lawrence offers.
"There are a lot of services people can get in Lawrence," Spencer said. "My job is to help people connect to resources in Douglas County and Lawrence."
Spencer, Melvern graduate student, works as an intern in the Douglas County District Attorney's office seven hours a week, to provide domestic violence victims with shelter, mental health and disability services. Spencer will help victims take advantage of Lawrence's various services, allowing the District Attorney's office to better prosecute defendants in domestic violence cases.
Kris Matthews, assistant director of field education at the School of Social Welfare, met with representatives from Women's Transitional Care Services and prosecutors at the district attorney's office in June 2005 to start the intern program.
Eve Kemple, assistant district attorney, prosecutes domestic violence cases. More
"Any crime that involves an injury and where the defendant and victim know each other requires more attention."
Eve Kemple
Assistant district attorney
contact with victims is needed than in other cases, Kemple said.
"Any crime that involves an injury, and where the defendant and victim know each other, requires more attention," she said.
Kemple said Charles Branson, Douglas County District Attorney, campaigned on giving more attention to domestic violence. The office needed Spencer's help because of the high volume of domestic violence cases.
Kemple charges between five and 10 domestic battery misdemeanors a week, she said. That doesn't include felony charges, which she handles, but does not charge, she said.
Shay O'Brien, field instructor at Women's Transitional Care Services, said
that prosecutors often experience victims who fail to make it through trials because of mental health or a fallout they have had in their lives.
The office came to the WTCS asking for help, she said.
"They needed somebody who could focus on the needs of victims," O'Brien said. "They're just working on winning the case."
O'Brien said Spencer would soon be involved in making sure that victims are connected with services that provide money for rent, mental health services, shelter and whatever else the women need to endure a trial.
Spencer will also help victims fill out forms relating to protection orders, which prevent perpetrators of domestic violence from contacting the victims, O'Brien said.
Spencer works at the WTCS seven hours per week and undergoes training six hours per week at the University, she said.
O'Brien said that the internship could become a paid position if everything goes well.
After completing the training in a couple of weeks, Spencer will be able to work more closely with victims, she said.
Edited by Kellis Robinett
Accused man faces six counts of first-degree murder
Hunter slayings trial proceeds
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAYWARD, Wis. - A Hmong man accused of killing six hunters and wounding two others said yesterday he feared for his life when he was confronted for trespassing.
As he stood in the witness stand, Vang pretended he had a rifle in his arms and detailed the order in which he shot them. He said he reloaded the gun twice.
Two survivors of the shootings testified earlier that no shots were fired at Vang before he started shooting.
Chai Soua Vang, who came to the United States from Laos more than 20 years ago, said he began shooting after he thought one of the hunters shot at him and the others were going for more guns.
The 36-year-old truck driver from St. Paul, Minn., is charged with six counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. He faces mandatory life in prison if convicted.
yesterday, Vang said he was lost in the isolated Sawyer County woods Nov. 21, found a tree stand he thought was on public property and climbed into it to get the lay of the
land. He said Terry Willers approached him and told him he was on private property and should climb down.
and shot. As he walked away, Vang said he heard all-terrain vehicles in the distance, and moved faster because he thought they were coming after him. One soon pulled in front of him and another behind him, he said.
Vang said Robert Crotteau and his son got off one ATV, and Crotteau swore at him, used racial slurs and asked whether he knew he was trespassing.
"I did what I had to do to defend myself. I would do what I had to do to stay alive."
Chai Soua Vang
Accused
"I thought they were going to beat me or something," Vang said.
Vang said he kept trying to walk away, then looked back and saw Willers take the rifle off his shoulder and point it at him.
He said he dropped to his right and heard a shot. He saw dirt kick up from the ground about 40 feet in front of him
"In my mind, he shot at me and missed," Vang said.
Vang said he quickly removed the scope from his rifle and shot Willers twice.
"I started charging." he said.
Vang said everyone else began to scatter, and he thought they were going for what looked like a gun case on the back of one of the ATVs.
Under cross-examination by Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager. Vang was asked if each victim deserved to die. She held up a photo of each person as she asked the question.
Vang answered "no" in some cases and "yes" in others.
Asked about Crotteau, who witnesses have said initiated the angry confrontation in the woods, Vang said, "He is the one that confront me the first time and yell at me and call me names. That is who he is."
He repeated his explanation for his actions.
"I did what I had to do to defend myself. I would do what I had to do to stay alive," he said.
Heacknownedged he acted out of anger as well as fear.
"Yes, I was angry and I was scared, not as much angry as scared," he said.
Before he took the stand. Vang spoke in his native language to the relatives seated behind him in the courtroom.
Tears ran down his cheeks, and his voice quivered as he rubbed his hands together.
Closing arguments were scheduled for today, when the case could go to the jury.
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