I’m not a criminal lawyer, but doesn’t there usually have to be a complaining witness in such situations?
His only lingering injuries appear to be some cuts to his face, and I think those are explainable by the accident itself. I’ve never been hit in the head with a golf club, but I think the injuries would be worse. There may have been violence here but I don’t think it’s required. To me, it’s just as plausible that they argued and he went to leave the house. I’m not sure it counts as domestic violence if she only took a club to his car.
Isn’t this a very common occurance in domestic abuse cases? I dunno what the typical police MO is, but I understand the modern trend is not to simply drop the matter if the parties refuse to talk, where there exists other evidence that an assault has occurred - such as injuries that do not correspond to the account of what happened provided by the victim/alleged perp.
Maybe someone more familiar with police matters can weigh in on this point. From what I’ve read, the cops are said to be considering charges, trying to get access to medical records, etc. in this case.
Though reading this article, it would appear that some Florida lawyers are of the opinion that the silent treatment will work in this case:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/01/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main5848386.shtml
… so you could be 100% correct. It will be interesting to see what happens.
I dunno. I’m also not a criminal lawyer (and certainly not a Florida criminal lawyer), but I do vaguely recall that this issue is hot stuff in the field of domestic assaults - the alleged victim frequently refuses to testify, invents an implausible story about how s/he was injured, etc.
I think that would more accurately read “…while we in the press…” Hell hath no fury like a reporter scorned.
No, not in Florida. This article has interesting details on domestic violence laws in Florida. Essentially the law is that if there is a good reason to suspect that there was domestic violence they have to arrest someone.
That said, I’m sure that without someone cooperating a conviction would be very difficult.
Thanks, that’s exactly what I was thinking of.
Well, as he cancelled his appearance at his own tournament, and as he’s cancelled the press conference he had scheduled for today…
A good point and one that resonates relatively well with me since the incident does little more than tell me hey, they’re human and when will the front page get back to the news that actually matters?
I’m familiar with that policy, but it’s a “you may beat the rap, but you won’t beat the ride” strategy, and as the article noted, the police took it on themselves to do this under pressure from the feminist groups. It is a waste of resources because all you do is throw the man in jail for a night and then not file charges because you can’t sustain a conviction without a complaining witness.
In this case, you would have Tiger with bruises. Who will get on the witness stand to verify that they came from his wife? For all the cops know, I was up there that night and hit Tiger.
Maybe someone else can chime in but I believe that it IS. Most state laws read something like “put a person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm”. So punching the wall, kicking down a door, etc. even though there is no direct physical contact still counts.
I would think that would especially be the case if she did something like threw the club at the car as he was driving it.
Check out this hyper-realisitc re-enactment from China. Quite humorous.
Florida Highway Patrol gave him a ticket for careless driving. They are not going farther.
Thanks for the info on domestic violence law. I would be surprised, however, to learn that it was often used to accuse wives of battering their husbands - and even less so as the family’s income level increases.
I guess we see what it takes for a golf-related thread to be successful around here! 
A careless driving ticket for as much as $164. I bet he regrets pulling out of his tournament now - where is he going to come up with that kind of scratch? 
That showed him a thing or two. Didn’t it? 
Now maybe those idiots at cnn can cover some real news for a change. Like the troop buildup or our economy. Nope, they’ll go back to following Palin’s book tour.
Horrible headline: “Tight-lipped Tiger not out of the woods yet.” Oh, Star Tribune, you’re terrible.
A citation for driving on a private road that is not open to the public, and is behind a security gate?
Here’s the ESPN story. Warning : A video with sound will load a few seconds after you click. The story is in text as well.
Why not? Why wouldn’t traffic laws apply there?
They do? If I drove my car around the back yard of my mansion and crashed into one of my marble statues, I could get a traffic citation?
Doubtful. But yards aren’t roads. I know of nowhere that traffic laws apply to yards. Is there much traffic in your back yard?