OPINION|
It never ceases to amaze me the incriminating things defendants say on telephone calls from the Greene County Jail knowing those calls are recorded and available to police and prosecutors.
How do the inmates know they're being recorded?
It's simple. A recorded voice message tells them during the actual phone call. Both parties, the inmate and the person they are talking to, are made aware of the recording.
Nevertheless, defendant Alexander Hobart, 31, of Bolivar, thought he could get around that when trying to convince the woman he is accused of choking to not testify against him in court.
Hobart figured he could outsmart those listening by speaking in “code” and getting the woman you use a fake name.
At one point, she had to ask him, “What the (expletive) am I supposed to call you?”
As a result, not only is Hobart charged with domestic assault in the second degree, but he also faces a charge of tampering or attempting to tamper with a victim in a felony prosecution. Both are Class D felonies under Missouri law.
A Class D felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison. The court also can impose a fine of up to $10,000.
Colleague Jackie Rehwald, who covers the courts for the Hauxeda, alerted me to the probable cause statement in this case for the original charge, which stems from a Feb. 27 alleged assault in Greene County, and the later charge of tampering with the witness.
At the time of his arrest, Hobart was on parole. He had been charged with with domestic assault in the first degree in Polk County, but did not go to jail. He was given a suspended execution of sentence and placed on probation, according to online records.
But Hobart violated the terms of his probation by failing to register as a sex offender and was in prison from Oct. 21, 2022, to Aug. 11, 2023, according to a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections.
In addition, Hobart is on the Missouri State Highway Patrol sex offender registry for a conviction of criminal sexual abuse in 2013 in Livingston County, Illinois. At the time of that offense, he was 20 and the victim was 15.
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As part of “Living in Fear,” a comprehensive series on domestic violence in Springfield and Greene County, the Hauxeda compiled a set of resources for people affected by domestic violence.
Pressure put on victims of domestic assault to not testify
The court document includes disjointed excerpts — not the full conversations — from nine different phone calls between Hobart and the woman he is charged with choking. The calls were made from March 4 to April 16.
The conversations are filled with obscenities — mostly the F-bomb — from both of them. I've redacted the cuss words in this column.
The excerpts are indicative of the many pressures brought to bear on victims of domestic assault to not cooperate with prosecutors.
On the phone calls, Hobart occasionally has to remind the woman to speak in code and not use her real name.
Hobart: “If I get charged with this domestic here in Greene County I'm goin' back for my parole violation. ... If I don't ... It gets dropped ... I won't go to prison.”
Victim: “And that's why you're so sweet. ... What the (expletive) am I supposed to call you?”
“That is the only thing that hurts me, you doin' what you did (we aren't even going to talk about it.) I can handle that. But the fact that you (expletive) lied about who you were. And what you're on parole for. That's what (expletive) hurts me. You can hurt me physically, well allegedly, do what you did to me all you want but the fact that you (expletive) lied to me. And you had charges for something. What the (expletive) did I do to you?”
Hobart: “Nothing. ... Buy why you comin' to court tomorrow? Hmmm.”
Victim: “Is that all you want from me?”
Hobart: “No.”
Victim: “Is for me to retract my (expletive)?”
Hobart: “Don't say that on this phone.”
Victim: “No it's (expletive), because you already lied to me once, and now what you're talking about like I'm supposed to drop my charges.”
Hobart: “What are you doin'? Don't say (expletive) like that. What the (expletive) is wrong with you? I'm talking to ‘Katie.' I'm not talking to you. Lady, you're gonna get me in trouble.”
Victim: “I know because what you did to me allegedly. I said ‘allegedly.'”
Hobart: “To ‘Katie.'”
Victim: “Yes, what you did to ‘Katie.'”
Hobart: “You need to figure out how to speak, lady.”
Pay attention, ‘I'm gonna say it in code'
Hobart: “You're gonna have to really pay attention to how I say some things later. Can't say it over the phone but you're just gonna have to listen because I'm gonna say it in code. There's certain things that are gonna happen.”
“Even if the state did, if she didn't come to the prelim there's nothing — from what I'm told from people in here — if she don't come to the prelim then they don't have nothin'. ... We'll just hope she don't show up. That's it.”
Victim: “I don't know what she's gonna do.”
Hobart: “So check this out, one of the guys I talked to in here has the same charge, same everything. He went to his first preliminary today and they dismissed it. He got out today. So best case scenario.”
Victim: “Best case scenario.”
Hobart: “Because she didn't, uh, I guess the victim didn't show up.”
Victim: “They showed up at my job today.”
Hobart: “But it's your (expletive) choice. We've talked about this so many times before. I can't tell you what to do. I'm not gonna tell you what do do. But I can say what I'm gonna do.”
Victim: “You've told me multiple times what I'm gonna do.”
Hobart: “Every choice has — remember, we've talked about how do we say it — every choice you make has a reaction.”
Victim: “Every action has a reaction.”
Hobart: “Every choice that you make, has, has a reaction from me. Correct? And that's all I'm gonna say.”
Victim: “And vice versa.”
Hobart: “There's no reason we're still having this same (expletive) conversation we've had before. Ain't (expletive) changed. Ain't nothin' gonna change. This is what it is. They're playing you. Come on now. Use your head. ... I just hope you make the right choice. I guess I'll see if you really do care and love me.”
This is Pokin Around column No. 187.
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