People v. Joseph CA3

BACKGROUND

Defendant and his spouse (hereafter “wife”) were married in 2002 and had three children: daughter S.J., son A.J., and daughter E.J. Defendant verbally abused daughter S.J., and verbally and physically abused son A.J. At the time of defendant’s crimes, A.J. was temporarily living with his grandmother to get away from defendant. On the morning of February 26, 2018, wife discovered that defendant was talking to women online, which he had done for approximately one year. When she asked defendant about it, defendant put her in a chokehold for about 20 seconds and held his hand over her mouth and nose. Wife was unable to breathe and was scared defendant would kill her. When defendant released her, she ran into their bedroom, stayed there the rest of the day, and slept there that night. The next morning, February 27, when wife tried to leave the bedroom, defendant shoved her back into the room approximately four to six times. She felt like a prisoner. Her daughter S.J. texted her while she was in the bedroom, telling her to stay in the room because defendant was getting dangerous. Wife was so scared that she stayed in the room and did not eat all day. Although she had her…