DA: Wife not charged for stabbing abusive husband
(Update: DA Hummel won’t prosecute woman in stabbing, says it was self-defense)
A transient couple were arrested Tuesday evening after the wife stabbed her husband with a knife in northeast Bend, police said. But Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Wednesday he declined to charge the woman after determining she acted in self-defense, fighting for her life against her domestic violence abuser.
Police officers responded around 5:50 p.m. Tuesday to Northeast Watt Way near Mary Rose Place on a reported domestic dispute, Sgt. Todd Fletcher said.
Officers contacted the 53-year-old woman and her husband, John Roger Dallas, 55. Fletcher said they learned the woman had been armed with a knife. (NewsChannel 21’s policy is to not name victims or others in criminal cases unless they are charged.)
Bend Fire Department medics responded and gave Roger Dallas initial treatment at the scene. He was later transported by officers to St. Charles Bend, where he was treated and released, then taken into custody and lodged at the county jail..
John Dallas remained held at the jail Wednesday on $45,000 bail on a probation violation warrant, as well as charges related to previous incidents involving his wife, including two counts each of fourth-degree assault and strangulation.
His wife was arrested on a charge of aggravated second-degree assault and held on $50,000 bail.
But Hummel said Wednesday he and his deputy district attorneys had reviewed the evidence and declined to prosecute the woman, as he “determined she is a survivor of domestic violence who stabbed her abuser to avoid being assaulted again.”
The DA said the woman “fought for her life last night. She endured repeated assaults from her husband over 10-plus years and decided that she would endure no more.”
“After he violently smacked (her) early in the evening, and then physically threatened her later in the evening, she stabbed him with a kitchen knife to defend herself,” Hummel said. “Her decision to stab her husband was righteous and authorized by Oregon’s self-defense law.”
“Consequently, today I declined to file criminal charges against her and asked that she be released from jail,” he said.
Hummel said people who feel unsafe around a loved one are encouraged to call 911 or the Saving Grace hotline at 541-389-7021. Saving Grace is a non-profit organization based in Bend that provides comprehensive family violence and sexual assault services and promotes the value of living life free from violence.
