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One-time 3rd Congressional District candidate David Hedrick shares his perspective on being acquitted of domestic violence allegations and his story of a 2010 incident that resulted in his initial court appearance.

Hedrick’s wife, Megan, sent the following e-mail to David Madore following filming of the interview. COUV.COM staff later verified via phone that the e-mail and attached document were sent by Megan Hedrick.

David Madore,

Attached is a signed letter I sent to the Columbian back in November. Feel free to publish it along with any part of this email, but please keep my email address confidential.

I want to be on camera as little as possible. Dave and I call this “off stage”. When people step out publicly and are recognized in the community it affects their life. When Dave and I go out he gets recognized much of the time. Most people don’t say anything. They just look twice and sometimes whisper to their friends or smile in his direction. Sometimes people come up and say hi and thank him for what he is doing. Unfortunately there are also times when Dave is threatened, cursed at and one person even tried to drive him off the road. My children and I have witnessed this behavior more than once. While I feel safe when this happens and my husband is there I don’t want it to happen to us when he is not. For this reason and many others I want to have myself and our children “off stage” as much as possible.

I’m tired of people blaming my husband for what I did. Since last October I told the truth about what really happened. I couldn’t believe how the prosecutor didn’t seem to care. I’m not sure if this is normal and they always go after men or if it had more to do with my husband’s political efforts. I personally suspect it was more political than anything. The cop arrested him for being a man and politics took over from there. They knew Dave wasn’t the aggressor. They just didn’t care.

I told the Clark County deputy on the first night that I was the one who attacked Dave and he only held me down in return. This deputy said he arrests the male when there are children in the house because mothers should stay home with their children. Is that even legal? Can a cop take a person to jail they know did nothing wrong and did not break any law just because of their sex? Can a prosecutor who knows this happened prosecute the victim anyway? According to the attorney’s Dave has spoken with they can’t. These attorneys want to go after the county with a lawsuit, but Dave wants to make sure the benefit and cost savings caused by the lawsuit will outweigh the cost the taxpayer will incur because of it. Despite everything that has happened and all of the “conservatives” that have turned their backs on him, my husband has not abandoned his principles.

While I realize calling the police was an enormous mistake on my part this was also huge eye opener for me. I got a close look at the way our system operates and how it can be abused to target men and people with political aspirations. I think the hardest thing for Dave has been watching many of his political allies allow them to do it.

When moving some things at home I came across Dave’s writings from the days and nights he spent sitting in what should have been my cell. I am somewhat embarrassed to say that while I shouldn’t have read it, I couldn’t help myself. I was shocked by what I read. Besides what I had done, Dave had two major concerns that he wrote about. One was how this was going to affect his time with his son. The second was how this was going to influence his ability to advance the cause he believes in. He didn’t complain one time about any embarrassment it would cause him personally or anything like that. There were portions of the Constitution and quotes from the founding fathers scribbled on the edge of the paper. Others can doubt his convictions, but I don’t. At a time when he had every right to be fixated on his own situation Dave was still focused on restoring the Constitution. I think people should know that.

Thanks for giving us both the opportunity to tell what really happened. I hope our story will be of some benefit to others.

Megan Hedrick

Video one timeline:

00:00 Hedrick talks about media reports of the incident and how he talked and prayed with his wife about how to handle it. He says “many people going through a similar thing,” and hopes to turn it into a “teachable moment.”

01:33 Hedrick walks through October 2010 incident, which occurred after his run for the 3rd Congressional seat was over. He says the incident started when his wife read an e-mail sent to him from his ex-wife. Hedrick says he and his wife disagreed about how to respond to the e-mail. Things escalated from there.

Video two timeline:

00:00 Hedrick continues his take on events, picking up when he said he was forced to restrain his wife. Eventually he said things cooled down.

05:35 The police arrive at the Hedrick residence. Hedrick said he exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to say anything to protect his wife since he is a public figure and what he said would become a matter of public record.

11:50 Hedrick is arrested. He said he decided to share his side of story with officer because he knew things would be in public record after his arrest.

Video three timeline:

00:00 Hedrick continues his story.

05:00 Hedrick talks about his three-day experience in Clark County jail.

06:44 Hedrick shares what he says is the “dirty little secret of the way domestic violence works.”

10:00 Hedrick talks about what he calls the “diversion punishment.”

Video four timeline:

00:54 Hedrick says the “liberal media did what the liberal media does,” and suggests some of the coverage surrounding the incident was unfair.

06:08 Madore asks Hedrick what his wife thinks about him saying she is the guilty one.

10:55 Madore asks how things are going now for Hedrick, his wife and ex-wife.

12:00 Hedrick says he and his wife hope that sharing their story will help the community.

Video five timeline:

00:00 Madore asks Hedrick what he wants for our country and his beliefs.

06:44 Madore asks Hedrick about a “living constitution.”

10:00 Hedrick says the nation is in trouble financially.

12:53 Madore asks what the nation can do to “get us back on the right track.”

Video six timeline:

00:00 Madore and Hedrick talk about how the Tea Party is portrayed in the media and by the public.

02:11 Madore ask Hedrick what the difference is between We The People and the Tea Party.

09:18 Madore invites Hedrick’s wife to verify his claims through some sort of signed statement if she is unwilling to appear on camera.

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