Domestic Violence ends the lives of two people loved by so many.
" Shooting details emerge " as posted in Helenair.com by By EVE BYRON Independent Record | Posted: Saturday, October 15, 2011 12:00 am
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Michelle Gable quietly walked into Justice of the Peace Michael Swingley’s court in Helena Friday afternoon, one day after she allegedly shot and killed her husband and another woman.
Gable, 48, is a small woman with dark brown hair and was clad in the standard orange jailhouse jumpsuit. She answered “Yes, your honor,” when asked if she understood that she was being charged with two counts of deliberate homicide, and that she faces up to a $50,000 fine, a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life behind bars.
The calm courtroom scene was a far cry from Thursday’s shooting of Joseph Gable, 48, and Sunday Cooley Bennett of Texas. The shooting occurred three weeks after Gable had sought and was denied a temporary restraining order against his wife; he cited intimidation, kidnapping and stalking as the reasons for the request.
He had filed for divorce on Tuesday.
According to police documents, a call came into the 911 dispatch center at 6:04 a.m. from Bennett saying there was a woman with a gun in a home at 330 Cutler St. The dispatcher heard a man screaming and Bennett advised, “This (the woman with the gun) is the man’s wife and she shot him.”
According to the documents, Bennett then advised that the wife was now trying to shoot her.
The dispatcher then heard Bennett saying, “Don’t you shoot me, b----. Don’t you dare. Don’t,” and then the caller appeared to have been shot.
The dispatcher could hear her saying, “Don’t you know what you are doing?” but she never came back to the phone, and the call was disconnected within a minute of being placed
An officer arrived at the scene by 6:06 a.m., and heard shots fired, with more rounds going off three minutes later.
The dispatcher received another call from the home at 6:13 a.m. This time it was quiet, but she reportedly heard a female saying, “I loved you with all my heart. It’s because of that b----. You traded me for her, Joe. I loved you.”
Meanwhile, officers had gathered around the home, and heard someone groaning near the doorway. They saw Joseph Gable lying on the ground, half in and half out of the home’s doorway. Michelle Gable also was in the doorway.
“Officers heard the male state, ‘My wife shot me.’ To protect him, officers dragged him from the premises because he was unable to move,” Helena Police Lt. Corey Livesay wrote in an affidavit. “… He said that Michelle was his wife.”
Joseph Gable also said that “Sunday has been shot” and when officers went into the building, they found her dead with a gunshot wound to her chest, lying near a staircase. They also observed two handguns and spent brass cartridges on the ground.
Joseph Gable was confirmed dead at St. Peter’s Hospital at 6:59 a.m. Bennett’s death was confirmed seven minutes later.
Michelle Gable was transported to the hospital at 6:36 a.m. and treated for a gunshot wound to her arm.
She remains in the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center pending a $250,000 bond. It initially was set by the county attorney at $200,000, but Swingley increased it based on the nature of the incident.
Michelle Gable is being represented by Jon Moog, a public defender.
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/shooting-details-emerge/article_8a5e5de6-f6ea-11e0-b9d6-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bebDtMCH
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/shooting-details-emerge/article_8a5e5de6-f6ea-11e0-b9d6-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bebfAP10
Michelle Gable quietly walked into Justice of the Peace Michael Swingley’s court in Helena Friday afternoon, one day after she allegedly shot and killed her husband and another woman.
Gable, 48, is a small woman with dark brown hair and was clad in the standard orange jailhouse jumpsuit. She answered “Yes, your honor,” when asked if she understood that she was being charged with two counts of deliberate homicide, and that she faces up to a $50,000 fine, a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life behind bars.
The calm courtroom scene was a far cry from Thursday’s shooting of Joseph Gable, 48, and Sunday Cooley Bennett of Texas. The shooting occurred three weeks after Gable had sought and was denied a temporary restraining order against his wife; he cited intimidation, kidnapping and stalking as the reasons for the request.
He had filed for divorce on Tuesday.
According to police documents, a call came into the 911 dispatch center at 6:04 a.m. from Bennett saying there was a woman with a gun in a home at 330 Cutler St. The dispatcher heard a man screaming and Bennett advised, “This (the woman with the gun) is the man’s wife and she shot him.”
According to the documents, Bennett then advised that the wife was now trying to shoot her.
The dispatcher then heard Bennett saying, “Don’t you shoot me, b----. Don’t you dare. Don’t,” and then the caller appeared to have been shot.
The dispatcher could hear her saying, “Don’t you know what you are doing?” but she never came back to the phone, and the call was disconnected within a minute of being placed
An officer arrived at the scene by 6:06 a.m., and heard shots fired, with more rounds going off three minutes later.
The dispatcher received another call from the home at 6:13 a.m. This time it was quiet, but she reportedly heard a female saying, “I loved you with all my heart. It’s because of that b----. You traded me for her, Joe. I loved you.”
Meanwhile, officers had gathered around the home, and heard someone groaning near the doorway. They saw Joseph Gable lying on the ground, half in and half out of the home’s doorway. Michelle Gable also was in the doorway.
“Officers heard the male state, ‘My wife shot me.’ To protect him, officers dragged him from the premises because he was unable to move,” Helena Police Lt. Corey Livesay wrote in an affidavit. “… He said that Michelle was his wife.”
Joseph Gable also said that “Sunday has been shot” and when officers went into the building, they found her dead with a gunshot wound to her chest, lying near a staircase. They also observed two handguns and spent brass cartridges on the ground.
Joseph Gable was confirmed dead at St. Peter’s Hospital at 6:59 a.m. Bennett’s death was confirmed seven minutes later.
Michelle Gable was transported to the hospital at 6:36 a.m. and treated for a gunshot wound to her arm.
She remains in the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center pending a $250,000 bond. It initially was set by the county attorney at $200,000, but Swingley increased it based on the nature of the incident.
Michelle Gable is being represented by Jon Moog, a public defender.
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/shooting-details-emerge/article_8a5e5de6-f6ea-11e0-b9d6-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bebDtMCH
'Don't do it': 911 call captures Montana shootingPosted: Oct 14, 2011 2:05 PM CDTUpdated: Oct 14, 2011 5:45 PM CDTBy MATT VOLZ
Associated PressHELENA, Mont. (AP) - A 911 call captured two women's voices saying, "Don't do it," and, "You took my husband," before gunshots rang out in a shooting that left a man and a woman dead in a Helena apartment.
The line went dead, and the dispatcher at the other end put out the alert to officers: "Shots fired! Shots fired!"
Seven minutes later, another 911 call came from the same address, and a woman said: "I loved you with all my heart. It's because of that b----. You traded me for her, Joe. I loved you."
The quotes from court documents and a police dispatch log provided new details into the Thursday morning slayings of Joseph Andrew Gable, 48, and Sunday Cooley Bennett, 50, at Gable's home. Gable's estranged wife, Michelle Coller Gable, appeared in court Friday to face two counts of deliberate homicide.
The shooting happened just two days after Joseph Gable filed for divorce from his wife of 25 years and three weeks after he attempted to obtain a protection order from her after she came to Helena from her home in Maryland. District Judge Dorothy McCarter denied that request, writing in her order, "No personal danger or threat involved."
Just after 6 a.m. Thursday, a woman called 911 from the apartment and said a man was being shot by his wife and the wife was going to shoot the caller, too, according to an affidavit by Helena police Lt. Corey Livesay.
Police declined to release the audio from the calls because of the investigation, but the affidavit said the 911 recording captured the sound of gunshots. Then the woman who called 911 could be heard saying, "Don't shoot me, you b----," and, "Don't do it."
A second female voice said, "You took my husband," then gunshots were heard once more.
Nobody came back on the phone and the line was disconnected, according to the log from the Helena Police Department's dispatch center.
The log noted another call seven minutes later, after the gunfire had ended, with the unidentified woman saying, "I loved you with all my heart."
Moments later, responding officers found a woman in the apartment's doorway who said her husband had been shot and she needed help, Livesay wrote. The officers heard groaning and saw an injured man lying across the doorway. They dragged him away and laid him on a sidewalk because he was unable to move, according to the documents and interviews with neighbors.
The man told officers, "My wife shot me," and, "Sunday is in the basement."
Inside, they found a dead woman near a staircase with an apparent gunshot wound to her chest, Livesay wrote. They also found two handguns and spent ammunition.
Joseph Gable died from his gunshot wounds at a hospital about an hour after the first shots were fired, according to the dispatcher's log. His wife was treated for an undisclosed injury and turned over to police.
Michelle Gable, handcuffed and in an orange jail jumpsuit, made a brief court appearance Friday to hear the allegations against her. The 48-year-old told Justice of the Peace Michael Swingley that she understood the charges and that she had requested a public defender.
Swingley set bail at $250,000, which is $50,000 more than prosecutors recommended. Gable's next hearing was scheduled for Oct. 28.
Police did not release any information about Bennett, other than to say she had recently moved to Helena from Texas. Her relationship to Joseph Gable was not immediately clear.
A white vehicle with Texas plates registered to Robert and Sunday Bennett was parked in Gable's driveway the morning of the shooting, police said.
Two phone numbers listed for Sunday Cooley Bennett in Rosenberg, Texas, were disconnected.
On Sept. 20, Joseph Gable sought a temporary protection order from his wife, saying that he and his Michelle Gable were separated but that she had shown up in Helena from her home in Clinton, Md.
He alleged that his wife was stalking him and then confronted him at his apartment while he was trying to change the locks. He said she threw a laptop computer down the stairs, tried to block him from leaving the apartment and prevented him from driving away because her rental car was parked behind his vehicle.
"She has been out of Montana on the East Coast in Maryland for over two years, came back unannounced and is trying to disrupt my life anyway she can, apparently," he wrote in court documents.
He said his wife didn't have any firearms that he knew of, but he accused her of intimidation and holding him against his will, along with stalking. He asked that McCarter order Michelle Gable to stay at least 1,500 feet away from his home or office. McCarter denied the request the next day.
Joseph Gabler, in his petition to dissolve his marriage, said the pair had been married in 1986 at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, and that they have no children. He wrote that he is a computer support specialist and that he worked for the Montana Department of Transportation.
He said the reason for the divorce is that "there is serious marital discord" and "no reasonable prospect of reconciliation."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://www.wric.com/story/15697374/911-call-captures-gunshots-in-montana-shooting?client
Associated PressHELENA, Mont. (AP) - A 911 call captured two women's voices saying, "Don't do it," and, "You took my husband," before gunshots rang out in a shooting that left a man and a woman dead in a Helena apartment.
The line went dead, and the dispatcher at the other end put out the alert to officers: "Shots fired! Shots fired!"
Seven minutes later, another 911 call came from the same address, and a woman said: "I loved you with all my heart. It's because of that b----. You traded me for her, Joe. I loved you."
The quotes from court documents and a police dispatch log provided new details into the Thursday morning slayings of Joseph Andrew Gable, 48, and Sunday Cooley Bennett, 50, at Gable's home. Gable's estranged wife, Michelle Coller Gable, appeared in court Friday to face two counts of deliberate homicide.
The shooting happened just two days after Joseph Gable filed for divorce from his wife of 25 years and three weeks after he attempted to obtain a protection order from her after she came to Helena from her home in Maryland. District Judge Dorothy McCarter denied that request, writing in her order, "No personal danger or threat involved."
Just after 6 a.m. Thursday, a woman called 911 from the apartment and said a man was being shot by his wife and the wife was going to shoot the caller, too, according to an affidavit by Helena police Lt. Corey Livesay.
Police declined to release the audio from the calls because of the investigation, but the affidavit said the 911 recording captured the sound of gunshots. Then the woman who called 911 could be heard saying, "Don't shoot me, you b----," and, "Don't do it."
A second female voice said, "You took my husband," then gunshots were heard once more.
Nobody came back on the phone and the line was disconnected, according to the log from the Helena Police Department's dispatch center.
The log noted another call seven minutes later, after the gunfire had ended, with the unidentified woman saying, "I loved you with all my heart."
Moments later, responding officers found a woman in the apartment's doorway who said her husband had been shot and she needed help, Livesay wrote. The officers heard groaning and saw an injured man lying across the doorway. They dragged him away and laid him on a sidewalk because he was unable to move, according to the documents and interviews with neighbors.
The man told officers, "My wife shot me," and, "Sunday is in the basement."
Inside, they found a dead woman near a staircase with an apparent gunshot wound to her chest, Livesay wrote. They also found two handguns and spent ammunition.
Joseph Gable died from his gunshot wounds at a hospital about an hour after the first shots were fired, according to the dispatcher's log. His wife was treated for an undisclosed injury and turned over to police.
Michelle Gable, handcuffed and in an orange jail jumpsuit, made a brief court appearance Friday to hear the allegations against her. The 48-year-old told Justice of the Peace Michael Swingley that she understood the charges and that she had requested a public defender.
Swingley set bail at $250,000, which is $50,000 more than prosecutors recommended. Gable's next hearing was scheduled for Oct. 28.
Police did not release any information about Bennett, other than to say she had recently moved to Helena from Texas. Her relationship to Joseph Gable was not immediately clear.
A white vehicle with Texas plates registered to Robert and Sunday Bennett was parked in Gable's driveway the morning of the shooting, police said.
Two phone numbers listed for Sunday Cooley Bennett in Rosenberg, Texas, were disconnected.
On Sept. 20, Joseph Gable sought a temporary protection order from his wife, saying that he and his Michelle Gable were separated but that she had shown up in Helena from her home in Clinton, Md.
He alleged that his wife was stalking him and then confronted him at his apartment while he was trying to change the locks. He said she threw a laptop computer down the stairs, tried to block him from leaving the apartment and prevented him from driving away because her rental car was parked behind his vehicle.
"She has been out of Montana on the East Coast in Maryland for over two years, came back unannounced and is trying to disrupt my life anyway she can, apparently," he wrote in court documents.
He said his wife didn't have any firearms that he knew of, but he accused her of intimidation and holding him against his will, along with stalking. He asked that McCarter order Michelle Gable to stay at least 1,500 feet away from his home or office. McCarter denied the request the next day.
Joseph Gabler, in his petition to dissolve his marriage, said the pair had been married in 1986 at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, and that they have no children. He wrote that he is a computer support specialist and that he worked for the Montana Department of Transportation.
He said the reason for the divorce is that "there is serious marital discord" and "no reasonable prospect of reconciliation."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://www.wric.com/story/15697374/911-call-captures-gunshots-in-montana-shooting?client
Joe and Michelle Gable: Timeline of a troubled relationship
By EVE BYRON Independent Record | Posted: Saturday, October 15, 2011 12:00 am
As more details emerge from Thursday’s fatal shooting of Joseph Gable and Sunday Cooley Bennett, so does a history of a tumultuous relationship.
- Joseph and Michelle Gable were married at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland in 1986, and he was stationed at bases in Washington and North Dakota before moving to Montana sometime around 2003.
- According to police reports, at 7:07 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2003, Michelle Gable, who was residing at the Cutler Street home with her husband, called police to say he was missing. She reported that Joseph Gable had left on his Harley Davidson motorcycle the previous day at 1 p.m. He returned home at 1:55 p.m. Sept. 29, and the missing person report was closed out.
- On June 20, 2004, at 5:34 p.m. Michelle Gable reported that her husband had deliberately pushed her off his motorcycle. She was taken to St. Peter’s Hospital emergency room, complaining of shortness of breath and headache but with no visible signs of injury. It’s unclear whether anyone was charged in that incident.
- At 10:44 a.m. on Sept. 5, 2005, Michelle Gable called police dispatchers to say that her husband had been in an accident a few days earlier and their friends had his property and wouldn’t return it. An officer called the friends, and later told Michelle Gable that her husband had given the friends permission to hold the property until he got out of the hospital.
- Three years later, at 11:45 a.m. on July 11, 2008, Joseph Gable was listed as the complainant on police dispatch forms, but the dispatcher said that a female was requesting an officer, because “she is involved in a confrontation with two males.” She requested the officer meet her outside and wouldn’t stay on the phone. Officers who arrived at the scene at 12:38 p.m. said Michelle Gable was “very upset to the point of being hysterical,” because her lawn was being mowed at the request of the rental property manager.
“Upon my arrival, the lawn was being mowed and she was in the street screaming at them to stop. She stated she was having trouble breathing and asked for an ambulance,” the dispatch report states. But when the ambulance arrived, she refused transport or further medical attention. The property manager also came to the Cutler Street home, telling officers he was on vacation and hadn’t been able to return her phone calls from her asking him to delay having the lawn mowed.
“Michelle was very angry and feels like she’s been ignored. She stated her life was in danger today and wants to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” dispatch records state. “While I was present, (the property manager) and Michelle came to an agreement that she or her husband will mow the lawn from now on. She was claiming that the lawn mowers the other people were using had pesticides on them which made her sick.”
- By Sept. 20, 2011, it appears the couple was separated. Police received a 911 call at 9:25 a.m. that day from Michelle Gable, who said she was trying to get her belongings and was assaulted by Joseph Gable. The report states that she was parked at Rodney and Broadway and her husband was gone on arrival. The locks had been changed and the landlord didn’t have a key.
- The next day, Joseph Gable filed a petition for a temporary order of protection in Lewis and Clark District Court. He said his wife lived in Maryland and they were married but separated. He said his wife was intimidating him, had held him against his will and was stalking him.
The restraining order states that as Joseph Gable was changing the locks on the house between 9:30 and 10 a.m. on Sept. 20, his wife came inside and said she wanted to get her belongings. He said she threw his laptop computer down the stairs, breaking it into pieces. She left the house, but had pulled her car behind his in the driveway and blocked his exit. He returned to the home.
“She has been out of Montana on the East Coast in Maryland for over two years, came back unannounced and is now trying to disrupt my life any way she can apparently,” Joseph Gable wrote in his request for the restraining order.
He added that she didn’t possess any firearms, as far as he knew.
Later that day, his request was denied, with the judge stating that “no personal danger or threat” was involved.
- On Sept. 23, 2011, a friend of Michelle Gable called police at 4 p.m. requesting a welfare check on Michelle, who was staying at a local hotel. The friend said she spoke with Michelle and was concerned for her mental health, adding that her friend was “hysterical” and “in a state of shock.”
“She’s distraught over a male being arrested and now released” in association with a partner or family member assault charge, and “states he doesn’t want her back,” the friend told the dispatcher.
Police arrived at the hotel at 4:17 p.m., but Michelle Gable wasn’t in her room. They called her cell and left a message for her.
n On Oct. 11, Joseph Gable filed divorce papers, citing there was “serious marital discord” and no prospect of reconciliation. He was shot and killed at the Cutler Street home two days later.
Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or [email protected]
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/joe-and-michelle-gable-timeline-of-a-troubled-relationship/article_87ca364a-f6ea-11e0-ba97-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story#ixzz1beemTfOl
By EVE BYRON Independent Record | Posted: Saturday, October 15, 2011 12:00 am
As more details emerge from Thursday’s fatal shooting of Joseph Gable and Sunday Cooley Bennett, so does a history of a tumultuous relationship.
- Joseph and Michelle Gable were married at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland in 1986, and he was stationed at bases in Washington and North Dakota before moving to Montana sometime around 2003.
- According to police reports, at 7:07 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2003, Michelle Gable, who was residing at the Cutler Street home with her husband, called police to say he was missing. She reported that Joseph Gable had left on his Harley Davidson motorcycle the previous day at 1 p.m. He returned home at 1:55 p.m. Sept. 29, and the missing person report was closed out.
- On June 20, 2004, at 5:34 p.m. Michelle Gable reported that her husband had deliberately pushed her off his motorcycle. She was taken to St. Peter’s Hospital emergency room, complaining of shortness of breath and headache but with no visible signs of injury. It’s unclear whether anyone was charged in that incident.
- At 10:44 a.m. on Sept. 5, 2005, Michelle Gable called police dispatchers to say that her husband had been in an accident a few days earlier and their friends had his property and wouldn’t return it. An officer called the friends, and later told Michelle Gable that her husband had given the friends permission to hold the property until he got out of the hospital.
- Three years later, at 11:45 a.m. on July 11, 2008, Joseph Gable was listed as the complainant on police dispatch forms, but the dispatcher said that a female was requesting an officer, because “she is involved in a confrontation with two males.” She requested the officer meet her outside and wouldn’t stay on the phone. Officers who arrived at the scene at 12:38 p.m. said Michelle Gable was “very upset to the point of being hysterical,” because her lawn was being mowed at the request of the rental property manager.
“Upon my arrival, the lawn was being mowed and she was in the street screaming at them to stop. She stated she was having trouble breathing and asked for an ambulance,” the dispatch report states. But when the ambulance arrived, she refused transport or further medical attention. The property manager also came to the Cutler Street home, telling officers he was on vacation and hadn’t been able to return her phone calls from her asking him to delay having the lawn mowed.
“Michelle was very angry and feels like she’s been ignored. She stated her life was in danger today and wants to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” dispatch records state. “While I was present, (the property manager) and Michelle came to an agreement that she or her husband will mow the lawn from now on. She was claiming that the lawn mowers the other people were using had pesticides on them which made her sick.”
- By Sept. 20, 2011, it appears the couple was separated. Police received a 911 call at 9:25 a.m. that day from Michelle Gable, who said she was trying to get her belongings and was assaulted by Joseph Gable. The report states that she was parked at Rodney and Broadway and her husband was gone on arrival. The locks had been changed and the landlord didn’t have a key.
- The next day, Joseph Gable filed a petition for a temporary order of protection in Lewis and Clark District Court. He said his wife lived in Maryland and they were married but separated. He said his wife was intimidating him, had held him against his will and was stalking him.
The restraining order states that as Joseph Gable was changing the locks on the house between 9:30 and 10 a.m. on Sept. 20, his wife came inside and said she wanted to get her belongings. He said she threw his laptop computer down the stairs, breaking it into pieces. She left the house, but had pulled her car behind his in the driveway and blocked his exit. He returned to the home.
“She has been out of Montana on the East Coast in Maryland for over two years, came back unannounced and is now trying to disrupt my life any way she can apparently,” Joseph Gable wrote in his request for the restraining order.
He added that she didn’t possess any firearms, as far as he knew.
Later that day, his request was denied, with the judge stating that “no personal danger or threat” was involved.
- On Sept. 23, 2011, a friend of Michelle Gable called police at 4 p.m. requesting a welfare check on Michelle, who was staying at a local hotel. The friend said she spoke with Michelle and was concerned for her mental health, adding that her friend was “hysterical” and “in a state of shock.”
“She’s distraught over a male being arrested and now released” in association with a partner or family member assault charge, and “states he doesn’t want her back,” the friend told the dispatcher.
Police arrived at the hotel at 4:17 p.m., but Michelle Gable wasn’t in her room. They called her cell and left a message for her.
n On Oct. 11, Joseph Gable filed divorce papers, citing there was “serious marital discord” and no prospect of reconciliation. He was shot and killed at the Cutler Street home two days later.
Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or [email protected]
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/joe-and-michelle-gable-timeline-of-a-troubled-relationship/article_87ca364a-f6ea-11e0-ba97-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story#ixzz1beemTfOl
Judges respond to protection order furor
BY ANGELA BRANDT and SANJAY TALWANI Independent Record | Posted: Friday, October 21, 2011 12:00 am | (21) Comments
Recent publicity surrounding an attempt by Helena shooting victim Joseph Andrew Gable to obtain a temporary order of protection from his wife, who later allegedly killed him, has sparked many questions regarding the protective orders and the processes of obtaining one.
Gable, 48, died of gunshot wounds last week, as did an acquaintance, Sunday Cooley Bennett. The shots were allegedly fired by Michelle Goller Gable, Joseph’s Gable’s estranged wife, after an early-morning encounter at his apartment. Michelle Gable, 48, faces two counts of deliberate homicide stemming from the incident.
District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter, who denied Gable’s request for the protective order, said she’s received plenty of hate mail in 22 years on the bench, but some recent notes related to the Gable case have been especially nasty. She’s replying to them where possible to explain how judges handle requests for temporary orders of protection.
Unlike traditional restraining orders, which can involve a wide variety of matters, orders of protection are aimed at protecting people from family members, intimate partners or stalkers.
The Montana Legislature created the process in 1995 to help protect the potential victims, often in domestic disputes. There’s no fee to request a protective order and there’s a standard form for the applicant (called the “petitioner”) to fill out. The petitioner can submit the form to Municipal, Justice or District Court.
By law, the judge is restricted to the information provided by the petitioner, and cannot do additional research into the past or criminal history of the person who is the subject of the order request.
The key element in a judge’s decision is the threat of or occurrence of violence.
“The bottom line is, the person has to explain why he needs it, and in order to be eligible, he has to indicate that the respondent has put him into reasonable apprehension of bodily harm,” McCarter said Thursday.
According to Montana law, a person may file a petition for an order of protection if the petitioner is in reasonable apprehension of bodily injury by a partner or family member or the petitioner is a victim at the hands of a partner or family member of assault, aggravated assault, intimidation, partner or family member assault, criminal endangerment, negligent endangerment, assault on a minor, assault with a weapon, unlawful restraint, kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping or arson.
McCarter addressed the Gable matter in a letter to a critic of her order.
“When a person applies for an order of protection, he/she fills out a form, which includes a description of why an order of protection is needed. In deciding whether to grant the order, the judge is limited to what the applicant states in his/her form. The judge may grant the order only if the applicant indicates that he/she is in fear of bodily injury by the person against whom the order of protection is requested,” she wrote.
Gable alleged intimidation, kidnapping and stalking as the reasons for the need for an order against his wife, according to court documents filed Sept. 21. He wrote that she had entered his apartment through the back door as he was changing the locks on the front door, a step taken “to keep my wife from entering unannounced and starting a confrontation.” This led to an argument in which Michelle Gable allegedly threw his computer down a flight of stairs, breaking the laptop, he wrote. Michelle Gable attempted to block him from exiting the apartment, Joseph Gable alleged. He wrote that after he finished changing the lock on the front door and locked it, he tried to leave the residence, but his wife had blocked his vehicle, which was parked in the driveway, with hers.
“She has been out of Montana on the East Coast in Maryland for over two years, came back unannounced and is trying to disrupt my life any way she can apparently,” Joseph Gable wrote at the closing of his request.
McCarter further explained the decision in her letter.
“His application contained no information that the respondent, his wife, threatened his physical safety or physically assaulted him,” she wrote. “On that basis, I had to refuse his application.”
“I should also point out that orders of protection are only pieces of paper that don’t ensure against violence that the restrained persons are intent on committing,” McCarter added.
Three weeks after Joseph Gable applied for an order of protection, he was killed.
McCarter said Thursday any of the other district judges would have made the same decision.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with gender,” McCarter said. Men and women “are subject to the same standards.”
Helena Municipal Court Judge Bob Wood sees an average of about two applications for protection orders per week. Roughly a quarter of the petitioners are men, he said.
“Our job is to protect people if there is proper proof,” he said. “The law is pretty clear.”
The process takes enormous amounts of time of law enforcement officers and the judges, McCarter said. She and the other three district judges handle more than 700 requests a year, each usually handling three or four every week. Some petitioners add to the burden by taking a request to Municipal Court, then Justice Court, and then District Court in search of the desired result.
But the system must be free and accessible with immediate results, she said, so that victims can use it and gain protection.
Wood agreed.
“I think it would be wrong to restrict people’s access,” he added.
Wood said one recurring issue that comes with protection orders is people attempting to use them as leverage in a break-up or child-custody situation.
“We’re not a divorce court,” he said, adding that many times he will suggest a civil lawsuit to remedy grievances not involving violence or the threat of injury.
“Is it a real threat or is it a bad break-up of a relationship?” Wood added. “The problem for many of them is they just don’t supply us with enough information. They can be more difficult to distinguish than meets the eye.”
But, Wood said even with his concerns, he would not change the current system for protective orders.
“I don’t think there is a need to change,” the judge said. “Sometimes, I wish people would take more advantage of the advocates available.”
Assistance for filling out applications is readily available via many online sources, as well as through advocates and The Friendship Center.
Once the temporary order is granted, the petitioner has to contact law enforcement to serve the subject of the order (the respondent) and a hearing is scheduled within 20 days. Sometimes, the petitioner doesn’t follow through on that, in some cases because a couple is reconciling.
At the hearing, the judge hears both sides — almost always, the parties appear without lawyers — and can then end the order or extend it, sometimes for a year or two or longer.
In some cases, those hearings can be emotional. Often the petitioner is in fear of the respondent, and the judge calls in a deputy to ensure order in the court.
The restrained person, if it is a domestic situation, always gets the right to go back to the residence to pick up his or her belongings. This also requires the presence of a law enforcement officer.
A protection order is a civil matter. Violation of the order can lead to criminal charges with a penalty of up to five years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.
Helena Police Chief Troy McGee said his department sees an average of three to seven violations each week.
“If we locate the person, we arrest them. If we can’t find them, then we send the case to the court to see if a warrant is needed,” he said.
“You can be arrested immediately (with the orders) by police,” McGee added.
Copyright 2011 helenair.com. All rights reserved.
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/judges-respond-to-protection-order-furor/article_bead5ff2-fba9-11e0-873e-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1begAJpee
BY ANGELA BRANDT and SANJAY TALWANI Independent Record | Posted: Friday, October 21, 2011 12:00 am | (21) Comments
Recent publicity surrounding an attempt by Helena shooting victim Joseph Andrew Gable to obtain a temporary order of protection from his wife, who later allegedly killed him, has sparked many questions regarding the protective orders and the processes of obtaining one.
Gable, 48, died of gunshot wounds last week, as did an acquaintance, Sunday Cooley Bennett. The shots were allegedly fired by Michelle Goller Gable, Joseph’s Gable’s estranged wife, after an early-morning encounter at his apartment. Michelle Gable, 48, faces two counts of deliberate homicide stemming from the incident.
District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter, who denied Gable’s request for the protective order, said she’s received plenty of hate mail in 22 years on the bench, but some recent notes related to the Gable case have been especially nasty. She’s replying to them where possible to explain how judges handle requests for temporary orders of protection.
Unlike traditional restraining orders, which can involve a wide variety of matters, orders of protection are aimed at protecting people from family members, intimate partners or stalkers.
The Montana Legislature created the process in 1995 to help protect the potential victims, often in domestic disputes. There’s no fee to request a protective order and there’s a standard form for the applicant (called the “petitioner”) to fill out. The petitioner can submit the form to Municipal, Justice or District Court.
By law, the judge is restricted to the information provided by the petitioner, and cannot do additional research into the past or criminal history of the person who is the subject of the order request.
The key element in a judge’s decision is the threat of or occurrence of violence.
“The bottom line is, the person has to explain why he needs it, and in order to be eligible, he has to indicate that the respondent has put him into reasonable apprehension of bodily harm,” McCarter said Thursday.
According to Montana law, a person may file a petition for an order of protection if the petitioner is in reasonable apprehension of bodily injury by a partner or family member or the petitioner is a victim at the hands of a partner or family member of assault, aggravated assault, intimidation, partner or family member assault, criminal endangerment, negligent endangerment, assault on a minor, assault with a weapon, unlawful restraint, kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping or arson.
McCarter addressed the Gable matter in a letter to a critic of her order.
“When a person applies for an order of protection, he/she fills out a form, which includes a description of why an order of protection is needed. In deciding whether to grant the order, the judge is limited to what the applicant states in his/her form. The judge may grant the order only if the applicant indicates that he/she is in fear of bodily injury by the person against whom the order of protection is requested,” she wrote.
Gable alleged intimidation, kidnapping and stalking as the reasons for the need for an order against his wife, according to court documents filed Sept. 21. He wrote that she had entered his apartment through the back door as he was changing the locks on the front door, a step taken “to keep my wife from entering unannounced and starting a confrontation.” This led to an argument in which Michelle Gable allegedly threw his computer down a flight of stairs, breaking the laptop, he wrote. Michelle Gable attempted to block him from exiting the apartment, Joseph Gable alleged. He wrote that after he finished changing the lock on the front door and locked it, he tried to leave the residence, but his wife had blocked his vehicle, which was parked in the driveway, with hers.
“She has been out of Montana on the East Coast in Maryland for over two years, came back unannounced and is trying to disrupt my life any way she can apparently,” Joseph Gable wrote at the closing of his request.
McCarter further explained the decision in her letter.
“His application contained no information that the respondent, his wife, threatened his physical safety or physically assaulted him,” she wrote. “On that basis, I had to refuse his application.”
“I should also point out that orders of protection are only pieces of paper that don’t ensure against violence that the restrained persons are intent on committing,” McCarter added.
Three weeks after Joseph Gable applied for an order of protection, he was killed.
McCarter said Thursday any of the other district judges would have made the same decision.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with gender,” McCarter said. Men and women “are subject to the same standards.”
Helena Municipal Court Judge Bob Wood sees an average of about two applications for protection orders per week. Roughly a quarter of the petitioners are men, he said.
“Our job is to protect people if there is proper proof,” he said. “The law is pretty clear.”
The process takes enormous amounts of time of law enforcement officers and the judges, McCarter said. She and the other three district judges handle more than 700 requests a year, each usually handling three or four every week. Some petitioners add to the burden by taking a request to Municipal Court, then Justice Court, and then District Court in search of the desired result.
But the system must be free and accessible with immediate results, she said, so that victims can use it and gain protection.
Wood agreed.
“I think it would be wrong to restrict people’s access,” he added.
Wood said one recurring issue that comes with protection orders is people attempting to use them as leverage in a break-up or child-custody situation.
“We’re not a divorce court,” he said, adding that many times he will suggest a civil lawsuit to remedy grievances not involving violence or the threat of injury.
“Is it a real threat or is it a bad break-up of a relationship?” Wood added. “The problem for many of them is they just don’t supply us with enough information. They can be more difficult to distinguish than meets the eye.”
But, Wood said even with his concerns, he would not change the current system for protective orders.
“I don’t think there is a need to change,” the judge said. “Sometimes, I wish people would take more advantage of the advocates available.”
Assistance for filling out applications is readily available via many online sources, as well as through advocates and The Friendship Center.
Once the temporary order is granted, the petitioner has to contact law enforcement to serve the subject of the order (the respondent) and a hearing is scheduled within 20 days. Sometimes, the petitioner doesn’t follow through on that, in some cases because a couple is reconciling.
At the hearing, the judge hears both sides — almost always, the parties appear without lawyers — and can then end the order or extend it, sometimes for a year or two or longer.
In some cases, those hearings can be emotional. Often the petitioner is in fear of the respondent, and the judge calls in a deputy to ensure order in the court.
The restrained person, if it is a domestic situation, always gets the right to go back to the residence to pick up his or her belongings. This also requires the presence of a law enforcement officer.
A protection order is a civil matter. Violation of the order can lead to criminal charges with a penalty of up to five years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.
Helena Police Chief Troy McGee said his department sees an average of three to seven violations each week.
“If we locate the person, we arrest them. If we can’t find them, then we send the case to the court to see if a warrant is needed,” he said.
“You can be arrested immediately (with the orders) by police,” McGee added.
Copyright 2011 helenair.com. All rights reserved.
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/judges-respond-to-protection-order-furor/article_bead5ff2-fba9-11e0-873e-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1begAJpee
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2011Did A Montana Judge's Sexism Help Cause A Murder?In Helena, MT. there was a murder in which a woman shot and killed her husband and another woman only a few weeks after the husband tried to get a restraining order to protect him from the wife that killed him.
From the Helena Independent Record: A 48-year-old Helena man whose wife allegedly fatally shot him Thursday morning had filed for an order of protection from her last month.
Joseph Andrew Gable, who died at St. Peter’s Hospital after being shot at least twice, asked a Helena District Court judge for a temporary order of protection from his wife, Michelle Coller Gable. He cited intimidation, kidnapping and stalking as the reasons, according to court documents filed Sept. 21.
The request was denied by Judge Dorothy McCarter.
“No personal danger or threat involved,” McCarter handwrote on the document denying the application.
Joseph Gable alleged in the request for an order that the day prior to filing, Michelle Gable entered his apartment through the back door as he was changing the locks in front “to keep my wife from entering unannounced and starting a confrontation.”
This led to an argument in which Michelle Gable threw his computer down a flight of stairs, breaking the laptop, he wrote.
Michelle Gable attempted to block him from exiting the apartment, Joseph Gable alleged.
He wrote that he then finished changing the lock on the front door and locked it. Joseph Gable said he tried to leave the residence, but his wife had blocked his vehicle, which was parked in the driveway, with hers.
“She jumped out of her rental car and came at me to continue the confrontation. I ran back into the house and locked the door,” he wrote.
Joseph Gable noted in documents that the couple was married but separated. He formally filed for divorce on Tuesday.
Michelle Gable, 48, is in jail facing two charges of deliberate homicide for fatally shooting her husband and his acquaintance at his apartment at 330 Cutler Street. The female victim’s name has not been released pending notification of her family. She was 50 years old and from Texas, according to police.
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/protection-order-denied-by-judge/article_34a52548-f62b-11e0-8e0b-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1Y05GsgO3
So, the estranged wife entered the husbands house without permission, throwing and breaking a laptop computer, tried to prevent him from leaving, blocked his car and then tried to break in again. And this is not enough to get a restraining order?
If a male had done this to a female, not only would there be a restraining order issued, the husband probably would have been thrown in jail.
So, what, in Judge McCarter's warped sexist view does it take to get a court order for a female to stay away from a male, kill a person? Oh, wait....Posted by Dan at 11:29 PM
From the Helena Independent Record: A 48-year-old Helena man whose wife allegedly fatally shot him Thursday morning had filed for an order of protection from her last month.
Joseph Andrew Gable, who died at St. Peter’s Hospital after being shot at least twice, asked a Helena District Court judge for a temporary order of protection from his wife, Michelle Coller Gable. He cited intimidation, kidnapping and stalking as the reasons, according to court documents filed Sept. 21.
The request was denied by Judge Dorothy McCarter.
“No personal danger or threat involved,” McCarter handwrote on the document denying the application.
Joseph Gable alleged in the request for an order that the day prior to filing, Michelle Gable entered his apartment through the back door as he was changing the locks in front “to keep my wife from entering unannounced and starting a confrontation.”
This led to an argument in which Michelle Gable threw his computer down a flight of stairs, breaking the laptop, he wrote.
Michelle Gable attempted to block him from exiting the apartment, Joseph Gable alleged.
He wrote that he then finished changing the lock on the front door and locked it. Joseph Gable said he tried to leave the residence, but his wife had blocked his vehicle, which was parked in the driveway, with hers.
“She jumped out of her rental car and came at me to continue the confrontation. I ran back into the house and locked the door,” he wrote.
Joseph Gable noted in documents that the couple was married but separated. He formally filed for divorce on Tuesday.
Michelle Gable, 48, is in jail facing two charges of deliberate homicide for fatally shooting her husband and his acquaintance at his apartment at 330 Cutler Street. The female victim’s name has not been released pending notification of her family. She was 50 years old and from Texas, according to police.
Read more: http://helenair.com/news/local/protection-order-denied-by-judge/article_34a52548-f62b-11e0-8e0b-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1Y05GsgO3
So, the estranged wife entered the husbands house without permission, throwing and breaking a laptop computer, tried to prevent him from leaving, blocked his car and then tried to break in again. And this is not enough to get a restraining order?
If a male had done this to a female, not only would there be a restraining order issued, the husband probably would have been thrown in jail.
So, what, in Judge McCarter's warped sexist view does it take to get a court order for a female to stay away from a male, kill a person? Oh, wait....Posted by Dan at 11:29 PM