The new legal team for domestic violence victim Nan Hui Jo has filed a motion to overturn the guilty verdict for kidnapping her own child, reports the Daily Democrat.
Jo says she escaped with her child to South Korea to protect her daughter, Hwi, from the father, Jesse Charlton. Charlton admitted on the stand he once pushed his former wife against the wall and grabbed her by the throat.
In the motion filed by defense attorney Dennis Riordan, he wrote that Charlton is much different than he was in 2009, when Jo escaped with her daughter.
“There is the present Mr. Charlton and the one who existed in 2008, when Ms. Jo became pregnant with their child,” wrote Riordan. “At that time, according to Mr. Charlton’s own testimony,1 he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was emotionally erratic in his behavior, and was subject to memory loss and depression.”
Jo has been separated from her daughter since being arrested in July 2014. How this case is resolved could determine if Jo and Hwi are ever reunited.
The motion to overturn the verdict will be heard this Tuesday in Yolo County, California.
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