Dallas County News – 4/9/08

County HR director’s domestic assault case goes to trial
By Amber Williams

It was a typical domestic call that brought two Dallas County sheriff’s deputies to a home in Dallas Center in the early morning hours of Oct. 14, but upon arrival, deputies Ryan Bowers and Jim Graham discovered a complicated situation where a fellow deputy was a part of the mix. Due to a conflict of interest, the DCSO handed the investigation over to Dallas Center police chief Michelle Leonard.  Two days later, Dallas County Human Resources Director Joni Fagen was arrested and charged with assaulting her husband. The case was finally heard by Magistrate Judge Virginia Cobb in court Monday, April 7.  Assistant county attorney Charles Sinnard called five witnesses to testify against Joni Fagen, starting with her now ex-husband, Randy Fagen, who is the victim named in the crime. Randy Fagen testified that he arrived home from work around midnight October 14, suspecting his wife was having an affair.  When he arrived, he said he caught her in the act of an affair with former Dallas County first deputy Matt Mardesen, who has since resigned from office. However, Fagen denied under oath any sexual activities with Mardesen at the time her husband arrived.  Randy Fagen insisted Mardesen leave his house immediately, and when Mardesen found his way out the door, Randy Fagen pursued him.  Joni Fagen stopped his pursuit of Mardesen by grabbing her husband by the back of his collar and trying to restrain him.  This testimony is undisputed by the defendant. The important fact in question in court that day was whether or not Randy Fagen pursued Mardesen with intent of harming him, or whether he was merely seeing to it that Mardesen indeed left the property, as Randy Fagen claimed.  Mardesen and Joni Fagen later testified that Randy Fagen showed signs, through both verbal and body language, a threat of possibly doing harm to Mardesen. “I made no statement about harming Matt,” Randy Fagen said under oath.  “I never thought about striking Matt.  I didn’t initiate any contact.”  However, contact was made between Randy and Joni, both ending up with minor injuries as a result.  Though Mardesen was able to exit the scene peacefully, a pushing and shoving match ensued between Joni and Randy.  Joni Fagen said she was trying to protect Mardesen from Randy Fagen, while Randy stated he was merely trying to protect himself from his wife. But Sinnard said, in his closing statement, there are several indicators that Randy Fagen had no intentions of harming Mardesen.  A thorough testimony of the floor plan of the house showed several instances where Randy could have initiated a fight, but didn’t.  Also, Sinnard stated the fact that Mardesen is taller than Randy Fagen by 3 inches and outweighs him by 100 pounds, coupled with the fact that Mardesen has years of police training and experience. Joni Fagen’s defense attorney, Brad Schroeder, rebutted stating that when emotions are high in a domestic situation, aggressors often don’t consider things rationally, and Joni Fagen, was therefore, justified in believing her husband may intend to harm Mardesen. “We don’t know what his (Randy Fagen’s) intentions were, said Schroeder in closing.  “We can’t take the benefit of doubt away from her.  She was there.  She saw how he (her husband) was acting.  She’s lived with him for 10 years.  Ms. Fagen is certainly justified in trying to avoid that potential confrontation.”  Her defense therefore, is because she suspected a serious threat to Mardesen’s safety, she was justified in using physical force to restrain Randy Fagen to stop his “eminent use of unlawful force” on another person, under Iowa Code 704.3. “It really gets down to a he-said versus she-said on the justification for the action,” Sinnard told the judge.  “Nobody saw the use of force by Mr. Fagen, nor did he ever make an indication that he was going to use force on Mr. Mardesen.” Several items were entered as evidence by the prosecution, including the two shirts Randy Fagen wore that night that were stretched out with buttons popped off; photos taken by police of bruises along Joni Fagen’s forearms and legs and scratches to the back of Randy Fagen’s neck and a swollen right eye; and a recording of the 9-1-1 call that brought deputies to the residence that night.  Both Joni and Randy Fagen testified that it was Joni who first threatened to call 9-1-1, but it was a race for the phone that caused them both to sustain injuries.  Randy Fagen made the call, which lasted about six minutes.  On the tape, when dispatch said a deputy was on the way, Randy Fagen had inquired who the deputy was.  He said in court and during the investigation with police that he had concerns about getting a fair trial due to his wife’s employment with the county and affair with a deputy.  Dallas Center Police Chief Michelle Leonard testified to this, though she ascertained she treated this investigation in a professional, unbiased fashion, as she does all other cases.  She testified that, after her investigation, she determined Joni Fagen as the assaulter and Randy Fagen as the victim based on the facts and interviews of the investigation.  However, Schroeder’s line of questioning suggested perhaps it was Joni who was getting the unfair treatment by police due to Randy Fagen’s threats to sue the county if he suspected unfair treatment during the investigation or trial.   After hearing the testimonies of Randy and Joni Fagen, Matt Mardesen, Graham, Bowers and Leonard, Judge Cobb announced she would make a written ruling after reviewing all facts surrounding the case.