Advocates in California have pushed for relief for people convicted of harming their abuser, hoping to build on states across the political spectrum that have adopted such reforms.
Just before her 25th birthday, Susan Bustamante confided in her brother about the violent abuse she had suffered from her husband. She says her brother had protected her from her abusive father in the past, so she turned to him again after her husband threatened to hurt her family if she left him. “He told me don’t worry sis, I’ll take care of it,” Bustamante said in public testimony earlier this year. “The idea that he would kill him never occurred to me.”
After Bustamante’s brother murdered her husband, she was convicted of helping him plot the killing. During her two-day trial, she was barred from testifying about the abuse she endured for years, which wasn’t seen as relevant to her case. Anytime she tried to talk about the abuse during the trial, it was struck from the court record. She was sentenced to life without parole.
At the time she was sentenced, Bustamante’s daughters were eight and 11 years old. She said she missed their weddings, the births of their children and the death of her sister. She was granted clemency in 2017 and released from prison in 2018 after 31 years of incarceration.
In March, Bustamante found herself sitting before California lawmakers, testifying about the abuse she experienced from her husband and how she was silenced in court. She asked for them to pass state legislation to help give other survivors of domestic abuse who are still in prison for crimes related to their abuse a chance at release. She also told lawmakers how the experience of incarceration retraumatized her.
“I’m a survivor of domestic violence, of child molestation, and a survivor of the California prison system, which as you were speaking earlier, it’s horrific,” Bustamante told lawmakers. “I’m an advocate for victims and survivors who should have the chance to at least tell their stories in court.”
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