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This past month hasn’t been the greatest for Democratic state Representative Daniel Patterson.
Nearly a month ago, Patterson became the subject of a House ethics complaint over claims of domestic violence from his ex-girlfriend, and pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor charges related to domestic-violence allegations.
The ethics complaint came out on February 27, as every House Democrat aside from those on the ethics committee signed off on the request for an inquiry into Patterson.
The letter said the most recent allegations against Patterson, made by ex-girlfriend Georgette Escobar, “appear to be part of a pattern of inappropriate conduct.”
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Patterson told New Times the allegations were completely false, and later posted on Twitter that the accusations were “lies from person w bad mental problems & violent criminal history trying to blackmail me.”
Now, Escobar’s taken to Facebook to explain that she’s on Patterson’s side in this ordeal.
Statement of Georgette Escobar about Daniel Patterson
I had a breakdown recently. I’m now stabilized and working on getting better.
Daniel Patterson never hit or committed domestic violence against me. I never needed an order of protection against him. I’m sorry.
I disagree with the ethics complaint, investigation and charges against him. He should be found innocent.
Georgette Escobar
Patterson’s continuously denied all of the domestic-violence allegations made against him, and he’s made it very clear on several occasions that he’s not resigning, despite the call from his fellow Democrats to do so.
The ethics complaint letter, penned by Representative Katie Hobbs, stated, “Based on our personal knowledge from media reports and personal conversations, it appears that Representative Patterson has engaged in a pattern of conduct that may be considered domestic violence.”
The letter went on to cite allegations made by Escobar, as well as Patterson’s ex-wife.
Patterson noted a few weeks later that Escobar’s order of protection against him — which Patterson referred to as “a main point of the complaint” — was dropped in a Tucson court.
An order from protection filed by his ex-wife during their divorce, in August, 2010, “was not in effect long” before also being quashed by a court, Patterson said.
Our question this morning: is Patterson “innocent” now that his accuser said he did nothing wrong?
Cast your vote below:
