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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.
[...] David Hedrick on Domestic Violence Case, Tea Party [...]
Thank you Mr. Madore for allowing citizens to heal from bad media stories and bad decisions! You have given our community a safe place to find forgiveness and restore their names!
I want to comment on a few things I have received as feedback. I also would like to clarify something I said during part of the interview, reiterate some points I was trying to make and provide an update.
The comments I have received since this interview have been overwhelmingly favorable. My wife and I appreciate all of the support and prayers that have come our way.
I was offered interviews about this topic by some in the mainstream media. Instead, I accepted an interview with David Madore because I could be confident that my words would not be cut and spun, but would stand on their own for good or bad. For those familiar with the media, that can be a very difficult thing to find.
My wife was largely the driving force behind my acceptance of the interview. She considers it a form of restitution for her actions as it may serve to help others who suffer through similar struggles. We all make mistakes in life. When we fall short of our own standards and harm others, it’s important to recognize our mistakes, admit them, seek forgiveness, make some form of restitution when possible, learn from the experience and move on benefiting from the knowledge gained. In this case, making the truth just as public as the lie was part of that process. For someone who shy’s away from the public eye, that took courage and I am proud of my wife for choosing to do it.
For my part, while I am very pleased with my conduct and the choices I made that particular evening, I certainly don’t always behave in a way that’s beyond criticism. None of us do. If you’re looking for perfection, you showed up about 2,000 years too late. I’m not capable of perfection. Not even close. Personally analyzing some of my most glaring flaws, I’m quite amazed that my wife manages to put up with me. I won’t attempt to list them here for fear that this would become a novel, but I will say that when you are not a political activist, being married to one must be absolutely exhausting.
I also wanted to clarify something that came up in the interview. I have no direct knowledge that this particular city Prosecutor, who is cross-deputized to work for Clark County, had any specific political ax to grind. I was rather clumsily attempting to say that there are many people who would like to silence a voice from the Tea Party and as a result the pressure and attention surrounding this case obviously affected the Prosecutor’s ability to do the right thing. I don’t know what his personal politics are, but I suspect that career ambition played a part. His actions amount to prosecutorial misconduct regardless of his political affiliation.
I was arrested and charged because I am male, victim or not, per Clark County’s unwritten policy. This was not a mystery to anyone who had access to the evidence in this case, including the prosecutor. In fact, the arresting Deputy said as much in a recorded deposition the Prosecutor attended, so this detail was never even a subject of dispute. If this sounds absurd, that’s because it is.
When the Deputy’s inappropriate conduct, unconstitutional actions and unlawful arrest were discovered, a completely different series of events should have transpired. All charges should have been immediately dropped. A public apology should have been forthcoming for causing an innocent person to spend three days of his life wrongfully incarcerated. A review of Clark County’s policies should have been conducted to determine the extent of the discriminatory DV policies and recommendations should have been provided to fix them if necessary. These recommendations should have been reviewed and implemented ensuring equal rights under the law for all citizens regardless of sex. The Deputy involved should have received disciplinary action and remedial training to address his blatant violations of constitutional rights. This would have been the right thing to do.
Unfortunately, while arresting and prosecuting men on roughly every domestic violence call is standard Clark County policy, it seems that doing the right thing isn’t. Rather than confess what they had done, in an apparent attempt to hide the truth, they knowingly prosecuted an innocent person. They sheltered the reputation of the government entities involved and protected their established systems, by turning against the very individual their position exists to protect. They even asked the court to prevent me from talking about their conduct with the media. Their message was loud and clear. If you are a male victim of domestic violence in Clark County, you had better shut up and take the beating you deserve. This is unacceptable.
Because they will not take corrective action on their own, I plan to change these discriminatory policies for them. Edmund Burke is attributed with saying, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good me do nothing.” I disagree. Anyone who does nothing when confronted with evil, is not a good man. Far too many innocent men in Clark County have been targeted by the system that is supposed to protect them. This will not stop until someone steps forward to compel change. Domestic violence must be taken seriously, even when the perpetrator and victim do not meet the Clark County’s approved stereotype. While it may be easier and more politically prudent to walk away and put this whole thing behind me, it’s become an unfortunate reality that I must take legal action to fix the problems that these “public servants” of Clark County are unwilling or unable to remedy on their own. If I don’t, the next time an innocent man is targeted by this group, I would share in the blame. I promised my supporters some time ago that I would not make decisions based on what was politically popular, but would instead focus on doing what I believe is right and let the political chips fall where they may. That is what I intend to do and unlike what happened at my trial, I assure you, the defendants in this case are going to have to say a lot more than, “the defense rests.”
David W. Hedrick
You actually wasted time “interviewing” this tea-party one-shot-rant wonder?
Embarassing, as is your ego, Mr. Madore, though it fits right in with Hedrick’s gall and nerve.
Oh, yeah, here’s just ONE of my production websites. I don’t have the money, but I have the education, training, and local understanding far more than someone just throwing cash around.
Well done interview. Thank you David M for the opportunities you afford us with your new forum. During the time I have known David H, I have always found him to be truthful, composed and level-headed. He is well versed on the Constitution and it shows. I am sorry for those that cannot see through their hatred of mankind to see the good in most people. Of course, when the original story was printed, it was meant to agitate and irritate those already against David’s beliefs. Unfortunately, it worked in many cases. I would certainly understand why an interview would be denied by David after the near slander that was originally provoked. Par for the course, I would say.