Brad Parscale’s case hinges on wife’s cooperation with police, experts say
Fort Lauderdale police say they don’t seem to be getting any more cooperation from Brad Parscale’s wife as they investigate Sunday’s encounter in which they say they saw her with bruises and cuts.
Brad Parscale, President Trump’s former campaign manager, was involuntarily placed under psychiatric observation after a standoff with police at his Fort Lauderdale home on Sunday, police said.
Legal experts say that Candice Parscale could greatly influence the outcome of the police investigation, perhaps even ultimately determining whether or not her husband ends up facing charges in the aftermath of Sunday’s tense, hourlong standoff.
“In this incident, the victim was not forthcoming with information while officers were in contact with her on-scene, and the assigned Victim Advocate has had trouble contacting her to provide assistance,” wrote Fort Lauderdale police Sgt. Deanna Greenlaw.
Candice Parscale originally told police that her visible injuries were from Brad, but from days earlier, police said.
“While speaking with Candice Parscale I noticed several large sized contusions on both of her arms, her cheek and forehead. When I asked how she received the bruising, Candice Parscale stated Brad Parscale hits her. When asked if he made these markings today, she claimed he did not,” wrote Detective Steven Smith.
In Fort Lauderdale, alleged victims of domestic violence are assigned a “victim advocate” who helps investigate their case. But so far, Candice Parscale hasn’t spoken to hers, police said.
Megan Chaney, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, says that the police likely have enough information to charge Brad Parscale at the moment, given the bruising that they say they saw on his wife and her statements to officers that they were the result of strikes from her husband.
But, “if she doesn’t talk to them, they won’t have enough information,” Chaney says. Prosecutors may be unable to prove if the bruising was from a consensual or non-consensual encounter.
The police “won’t know if they were from him in an unprovoked violent attack,” she says.
Chaney also says that the nature of the 911 call that Candice Parscale made could also influence the investigation, since the call was originally about Brad Parscale’s possible suicide, rather than a domestic violence complaint against him.
Paula McMahon, spokeswoman for the Broward County State Attorney’s Office, declined to speak about Parscale’s case.
“We have no comment on the Parscale matter, which is under investigation by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. The matter has not been presented to prosecutors at this time,” McMahon wrote.
But, she added, “in general, it is not unusual that alleged victims of domestic violence are reluctant to cooperate for obvious reasons. When police present allegations to our office, prosecutors review everything available in each case to determine if there is sufficient evidence to file a charge and prove it without testimony or cooperation from an alleged victim.”
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