Sad story may end well
The story of Tondalao Hall is sad on many levels, and frustrating. It's also important and timely, given that this is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Hall, 35, has been in prison since 2006 for failing to protect her two young children from their abusive father, who was her boyfriend at the time. Under Oklahoma law, enabling child abuse is a felony and can carry stiff sentences including life in prison. Hall was given 30 years.
Meantime, her exboyfriend, through a plea agreement, received probation and two years of time served awaiting trial — despite admitting that he had broken their 3-month-old daughter's leg and ribs.
It's heartbreaking when any child is abused, and that Hall's children, now 16 and 15, have had to grow up without her in their lives every day. And, it hurts to know the latter didn't have to happen but for the powerful hold that abusers can have on their victims.
Hall pleaded guilty in October 2006 to four counts of permitting child abuse, in a “blind plea” in which she wouldn't be sentenced until after testifying in her ex-boyfriend's trial. Her testimony, however, didn't sync with what she had told police about the man's role in hurting her children. It's safe to assume concern about what revenge he might try to exact contributed to Hall's altered story.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater points out that Hall's revised testimony created a bind for the prosecutor who handled the case and for the judge. Continuing with the trial might have led to an acquittal for the ex-boyfriend, and his possibly being given custody of the children. District Judge Ray C. Elliott, meantime, cited Hall's admission of culpability and her lack of candor on the stand.
Instead of the ex-boyfriend going to prison and Hall going free, the opposite happened.
In 2009, Hall acknowledged her mistake in a letter to Elliott.
“I need to apologize to you for my actions and for my attitude,” she wrote. “… Lying led me to prison. I do take full responsibility that I
should have paid more attention to my children and when I did see something happen, I should have separated my children and myself from the abuser.”
If only. Yet reluctance to leave is commonplace in domestic violence cases. Concerns about being able to support themselves or their children contribute. Those can be augmented by the abuser's verbal putdowns. Hall's attorney says Hall was abused physically, emotionally, verbally and sexually for years.
Hall may soon be reunited with her children. The state Pardon and Parole Board, after saying no twice before, voted last week to recommend Hall for commutation. The final decision rests with the governor.
Hall earned her GED in prison and became a master instructor in a cosmetology program. She has a job lined up if she's released.
Prater endorsed Hall's request for a commutation hearing, and says he hopes she will look to “educate women in abusive relationships to seek help before their children are abused by their violent partner.” That message can't be shared enough.