Legal phase of saga ends with acquittal

by Manju Subramanya
Staff Writer

Dembrow planning run for state Senate

The scandal that erupted around Del. Dana Lee Dembrow after an ugly Easter Sunday slugfest with his wife ended quietly in a courtroom with his acquittal.

The prosecution's case fell apart after Suzette Dembrow, 39, refused to testify against her husband, said Frederick County State's Attorney Scott Rolle (R).

Dana Dembrow (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault at a May 10 hearing at District Court in Rockville, despite having admitted publicly to hitting his wife.

The end result: District Court Judge Thomas L. Craven acquitted Dembrow, 48.

"We cannot compel a spouse to testify," said Rolle, whose office was asked to handle the case by Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler (D) to prevent any appearance of impropriety. Both Dembrow and Gansler are Democrats. "Unfortunately, it happens sometimes in domestic violence cases," Rolle said.

Without Suzette Dembrow's testimony, her statements to the police on March 31 that her husband punched her in the face, bloodying her nose, and hit her three times in the chest the night before amounted to "hearsay," Rolle said. Although prosecutors had photographs of her bruises, that was not enough to prosecute the case, he said.

Complicating the case was evidence that showed Suzette Dembrow had slapped her husband first, Rolle said.

Were it to happen again, Suzette Dembrow would have to testify, he said. A spouse may invoke marital privilege not to testify only once in a domestic violence case.

Dana Dembrow's countersuit against his wife, charging that she hit him first and describing her as a former professional boxer, was dismissed April 26. Frederick prosecutor Teresa Bean decided not to prosecute because those charges were "filed in retaliation," Rolle said.

The Dembrows, who have two young children, have been living apart since the altercation. Suzette Dembrow obtained a protective order April 10 from a Circuit Court judge barring her husband from their Silver Spring home until Sept. 29.

With the incident behind him, Dana Dembrow plans to run for Senate, either in District 14 or District 20, according to published reports. Dembrow did not return two calls seeking comment.

Del. Adrienne A. Mandel, president of the Women's Legislative Caucus, said she had no comment on Dembrow's acquittal. The caucus, a group of 58 women legislators, stood by its earlier statement issued days after the altercation "condemning all acts of violence regardless of who commits the violence," said Mandel (D-Dist. 19) of Silver Spring.