Garden Grove, Orange County - In a story that has received international attention a Garden Grove woman remains behind bars after cutting off her husband's penis last week.
Garden Grove Police say an argument over house guests may have lead Catherine Kieu, 48, to drug her husband's dinner, tied him to a bed and cut off his penis, which Kieu put down the garbage disposal.
Kieu was charged with one felony count of torture and one felony count of aggravated mayhem with sentencing enhancements for great bodily injury and personal use of a knife.
Fullerton criminal defense attorney Michael L. Guisti says this is probably one of the more bizarre cases to come along in a long time, but it's important to look at the crimes Kieu is being prosecuted for.
In the case of felony torture, according to attorney Guisti, under Penal Code (PC) 206 torture is when you have the intent to cause cruel or extreme pain and suffering for the purpose of either revenge, extortion, persuasion, or for any sadistic purpose, which inflicted great bodily injury.
Fullerton criminal lawyer Guisti says given what allegedly took place meets the threshold of felony torture for the Orange County District Attorney as extreme pain was caused for apparent revenge over the house guests.
Common defenses for torture, according to Guisti, is you didn't cause "cruel or extreme pain," even if you did injury somebody as along as you didn't inflict "cruel or extreme pain" a person cannot be charged nor found guilty of torture.
Similarly if a suspect injured somebody but didn't get revenge, extort property, or have personal satisfaction then they cannot be found guilty of torture, according to Guisti. Many times, Guisti goes on to say, this defense generally works when a person had to injure somebody in the name of self-defense simply for protection.
Fullerton criminal attorney Guisti talks about how this type of defense worked for a very famous, similar case in the early 1990s. Guisti explains In the Lorena Bobbit case the suspect, Bobbit, cut off her husband's penis and was tried and found not guilty after Bobbit's defense attorney's showed the jury her husband's constant abuse caused Bobbit to eventually "snap" as she was suffering from clinical depression and possible post traumatic stress disorder due to the ongoing abuse.
Orange County criminal lawyer Guisti explains that aside from the incident itself not much is really known about the Garden Grove case and if there was some kind of reason why Kieu felt it necessary to allegedly do such a thing. Guisti says many people thought the Bobbit case was very straight forward, but once the trial got underway it was revealed there was substantial abuse in their house that led to that moment.
Attorney Guisti also wants to address the other charge of mayhem Kieu is facing. Under PC 205 aggravated mayhem is when you maim someone and exhibit an extreme or reckless disregard for the physical or psychological well-being of the victim according, to Guisti.
Orange County defense lawyer Guisti says Kieu can argue just like the torture charge it was a case of self-defense simply to protect herself.
Both torture and mayhem are felonies, with torture carrying a life behind bars at a California state prison if convicted, according to Guisti.
If you're facing some kind of torture charge you must call the Orange County torture defense attorneys at the Law Office of Michael L. Guisti right away at 888-478-8999, because this is a very serious charge that could send you to prison for the rest of your life.
