Nan-Hui Jo, the Korean mother convicted last month of kidnapping her child from who she says is an abusive former husband, is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in California.
The case has generated much social media buzz and support from both the Asian American community and workers who assist domestic violence victims.
According to New American Media, dozens of letters of support have been sent to Nan Hui to her jail cell in Yolo County outside Sacramento.
The father, Jesse Carlton, admitted on the witness stand that he grabbed his ex-wife by the throat and threw her against a wall. He was never charged for the incident which prosecutors say was not reported to police.
Jo took the child and escaped to South Korea where she stayed for five years until returning to the US and being arrested in Hawaii. Prosecutors accused Jo of completely cutting off contacts with them during this time.
According to immigration lawyer Saira Hussain, charges against Nan Hui could be potentially reduced.
“The judge sending the case to probation means that he could be considering the case as a misdemeanor,” said Hussain to Nom Hee Hwang who has blogged for AsAmNews about this case. “The charge of which Ms. Jo was convicted, PC 278.5, can either be a misdemeanor or a felony (what we call a “wobbler”). It is still within the judge’s discretion to knock the charge down to a misdemeanor prior to sentencing, which would provide better options for Nan-Hui’s immigration case.”
(this post has been updated to corrected the father’s first name)
