Cherelle Baldwin walked free April 1 after being found not guilty of murder. She had crushed her ex-boyfriend against a wall with a car, claiming she was acting in self-defense against a man who had abused her time and again.
Baldwin’s acquittal was hailed by leaders of more than three dozen national advocacy groups who had signed letters urging the state prosecutor to drop the charges against the Bridgeport woman. Among other things, the groups have misgivings about Connecticut’s “dual arrest” policy, the practice of arresting both parties in domestic altercations. Speaking to the media arm of the advocacy group Democracy Now, Baldwin emphasized what her supporters had been saying while vying for her release: Women who are defending themselves from attackers should not be prosecuted.
