It was a case that made women everywhere shudder. A woman was set on fire in her workplace. Her estranged husband is the culprit. Next month a Maryland judge is expected to sentence 34-year-old Roger Hargrave to life in prison after a jury found him guilty and recommended life behind bars.
The verdict and sentence send abusers the message that juries are prepared to take their actions seriously and punish them to the fullest extent of the law," says Lisalyn Jacobs, Vice President of Government Relations.Last October the 32 year old Cade was set ablaze at a T-Mobile store in front of horrified customers and co-workers. Several weeks before the attack a Prince George's County District Court judge dismissed her protective order. An audiotape of the proceeding reveals judge Richard A. Palumbo using a sarcastic tone as he interrupts Cade's pleas for protection. Maryland's judicial commission recently filed misconduct charges against him in connection with his treatment of women in domestic violence cases and his actions during several traffic incidents. "His repeated questionable conduct in the courtroom, his brushes with the law outside the courtroom and his callous handling of the Cade case all make it very appropriate for him to be sanctioned."
