Brooklyn judge: Assault victims were ‘no angels’ — violence is just part of their ‘culture'

A Brooklyn judge defended the behavior of an ex-convict who attacked two women while out on supervised release by saying the assault victims here "no angels" themselves.

According to the New York Daily News, controversial federal Judge Frederic Block then went on to mock the U.S. Attorney's Office for taking the case so seriously.

Defendant David Carter was out of prison on supervised release after serving a 51-month sentence for opening fire on NYPD officers on top of a prior weapons offense.

Two women say that Carter attacked them during verbal disputes that turned violent. Federal prosecutors arrived at a Sep. 17 hearing on the matter with photos of the women's injuries and detailed accounts of Carters' offenses, hoping to see Carter returned to prison for two years.

"You prepared this exhibit as if it were a murder case," Block said, according to a transcript. "There must not be a lot of things that the office has to preoccupy yourself...It's good to see (the U.S. Attorney's office) is not so busy that you have to do this."

"It's a little bit of an overkill," said Block. "Realistically speaking, it's sort of disproportionate to what we're doing."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Girish Srinivasan assured the judge, "We take it seriously."

The two women, Christina Sanchez and Carter's former partner Kenya Fuller, were not credible witnesses, said Brock.

Repeatedly Block referred to the women as the "so-called victims" and said that they are "no angels themselves."

Block ruled that Fuller's injuries amounted to little more than harassment, in spite of the fact that both she and her toddler child suffered abrasions and bruises when Carter struck her in the mouth and knocked them both to the ground.

The Daily News said that Block called the violence part of these people's "culture."

"There's a certain dynamic here that is regrettable," said Block. "That's the culture they have. They hit each other. Who knows what they do out there in that world. What to do requires the wisdom of Solomon. Maybe I should make my determination on Yom Kippur."

"There may be all sorts of provocations back and forth and we have men here who are in the situation, but the women are sometimes complicit also,' he went on.

"He (Carter) may not realize how fortunate he is that this matter is before Judge Block," Block wrote -- referring to himself in the third person.

Carter was sentenced to time served (three weeks in jail), a 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew and anger management classes.