LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — After waiting several years for her day in court, a Lexington woman says she feels she went unheard at her estranged husband’s domestic violence sentencing last week.
Kress Habash says that in 2019 her now-estranged husband assaulted her, breaking her nose and leaving her with other injuries.
He pleaded guilty to an amended count of fourth-degree assault in the case, and his attorney told the judge at sentencing that he “admits this was a bad act and he takes full responsibility.”
In her victim’s impact statement, Habash, who speaks mostly Arabic, was allowed to speak in court for about 15 minutes with the help of an interpreter. Habash says she was emotional and nervous. She can be heard on the video recording of the hearing going off the topic of the case at points.
She was back on the subject of the assault when she says Judge Julie Goodman stopped her, saying that the plea deal was made by the prosecutors. After some back and forth, Goodman told Habash the court “can only listen for a limited time because all these other people – this is not the place to have a trial. It’s been done.”
Habash reached out to LEX 18 because she felt she was prevented from having her full say after waiting years for her day in court.
“I was in pain all the time because I need to talk," Habash told LEX 18.
Habash said she felt she wasn’t treated like a victim of a crime.
“It’s very hard to be a victim,” Habash said. “And somebody keep you feel like a crime, I’m not. I’m a victim.”
In an email to LEX 18, Goodman said that she “never stopped either victim from speaking,” saying that “only after the mother speaking for over 13 minutes, the Court attempted to redirect the mother’s testimony to matters relevant to the case and not unrelated family matters.”
She also noted in the email that the sentencing that day was part of a docket of 54 individual cases.
“There is no law that sets a specific time for the victim to speak,” Goodman said in the email. “However, if either the Commonwealth or the Defense requests a separate time ‘off docket’ the Court grants that request and in fact that happens regularly. However, on regular dockets the parties are usually very respectful of all the other parties’ time and the victims usually speak for about five minutes or so.”
The sentencing
At her estranged husband’s sentencing last Thursday, Habash’s daughter, Leen, was the first to give her victim’s impact statement. A victim’s advocate walked up to the podium with Leen, but Goodman told her she would not be able to stay with her since she wasn’t an attorney.
Leen talked about the day of the assault, saying that it all started when she’d asked her dad for a sandwich after coming home from school hungry.
“He told me these exact words, ‘you are going to make me spend $10 on a sandwich? Go ask your mom,’” Leen recounted at the sentencing. “My mom overheard this conversation and went to go speak with my dad, which is when he chased her up the stairs and punched her.”
Leen said she was right next to her mother when the assault happened.
“Blood started gushing out of my mom’s nose,” Leen said. “There was blood on my shirt, the carpet and my mom’s shirt.”
After Leen’s victim impact statement, which lasted around four minutes, Judge Julie Goodman commended her on her courage and wished her the best.
“Thank you very much for being willing to talk to me, thank you also for your courage to come forward,” Goodman told Leen. “I know it’s hard for anyone, much less someone who’s young.”
In an interview with LEX 18, Leen expressed frustration with how she feels her mother was treated during her victim impact statement.
Habash’s victim impact statement
When it was Habash’s turn to speak, she was visibly emotional when she walked to the podium alone.
Goodman can be heard comforting Habash and telling her to take a deep breath.
Habash began talking about her relationship with her husband and family. When she went off-topic, Goodman steered her back to the case.
"Ma'am I totally understand your frustrations,” Goodman said. “But I can only address the crime, not the other family dynamics.”
Habash talked for a little while longer and was talking about that day of the assault when the judge interjected again.
Goodman asked Habash if she understood that it was the prosecutors in the case who came to a plea agreement, and said she could not change how the prosecutors felt the case should be resolved.
After Habash said, through the interpreter, that she had two more pages left and a lot to say, Goodman pointed to the fact that the sentencing was only part of a larger docket of cases waiting to be heard.
“Ma’am, the court can only listen for a limited time because of all of these other people,” Goodman can be heard saying in the recording. “This is not the place to have a trial, it’s been done. I’m sorry the commonwealth didn’t explain to you the very limited amount of time that the court can give you to talk. So you’ve already talked a great deal and all of these people have important things to say, and what you’ve said is important to the court.”
After leaving the podium, Habash and Leen left the courtroom. Goodman called the prosecutors in the case up to the bench, and in the court video provided to LEX 18 by the courthouse, she could be heard scolding them for not preparing the victim for her impact statement.
“I found what happened here, a total abuse of the court system and to all these other defendants and victims who are entitled to their time,” Goodman can be heard saying in part. “So just let it be known that if you all can't get your victims in line, I will report it [inaudible].”
In the end, Goodman sentenced the man, Samir Habash, to 12 months probation. She cited the results of the pre-sentence investigation report and the commonwealth’s agreement to amend the charges to misdemeanors.
