Judge´s Questions

JUDGE (1): State your name and county of residence for the record, please.

JUDGE (2): Are you married, Ms. Bermudez?

JUDGE (3): Please, confine yourself to answering the questions, Mrs. Bermudez, or shall I call you Mrs. Noriega?

JUDGE (4): Okay Mrs. Fortín. How long have you been married?

JUDGE (5): Do you have any children of this marriage?

JUDGE (6): Now, Mrs. Fortín, directing your attention to the night of December 19 of this year, what, if anything, happened on that night?

JUDGE (7); And what was that, Mrs. Fortín?

JUDGE (8): Mrs. Fortín, I´d like you to stick to the questions I ask you. Please, don´t go into details about unrelated matters. Now, you say that your husband came home drunk and you stayed in the bedroom. What happened next?

JUDGE (9): What, if anthing, did you do in response to his statements?

JUDGE (10): After he kicked the door and said all those things to you, what did he do next?

JUDGE (11): Was he still on the other side of the door at this point? Let me rephrase the question... Did he enter the room where you were at any point in time?

JUDGE (12): And what happened next?

JUDGE (13): And then, what happened?

JUDGE (14): I know this is upsetting you, Mrs. Fortin. I´m sorry to make you go into it in such detail, but I´m sure you understand it is necessary. Would you like to take a little break?

JUDGE (15): Okay. Thank you. Now, you said your husband slapped you. Where was he at this point?

JUDGE (16): I see. And how long did it last?

JUDGE (17): Now, in your earlier testimony, Mrs. Fortín, you said that you have three children. Were any of them present during this altercation?

JUDGE (18): While your husband was beating you, did any of the children witness this incident?

JUDGE (19): All right. Now, you mentioned that you fell off the bed. Did he continue hitting you while you were on the floor?

JUDGE: (20): I´m sorry Mrs. Fortín, Would you like a moment to compose yourself? Would you like a glass a water? Here´s a Kleenex.

JUDGE (21): Thank you, Mrs. Fortín. Now, directing your attention to what has been marked as Exhibit 2 for identification, a belt. Do you recognize this belt, Mrs. Fortín?

JUDGE (22): Now, Mrs. Fortín, at some point did something happen to cause your husband to stop hitting you with the belt?

JUDGE (23): Now. When the police arrived, Mrs. Fortín, did they question you about the incident? Did they take a statement from you?

JUDGE (24): At some point, did you give full statement to the police? Did you in fact press charges against your husband?

JUDGE (25): In your earlier testimony, Mrs. Fortín, you mentioned that this was not the first time your husband had beaten you. Can you give us an estimate of approximately how many times he had assaulted you like this during your 18 years of marriage?

JUDGE (26): So this had become a pattern in your relationship, in your marriage, that your husband would insult you regularly and that he would periodically beat you, and this was the last straw?

JUDGE (27): Than you, Mr. Fortín. I have no further questions.