No mercy for Dominic Carter; Jailed for beating wife

In November, Carter was found guilty of misdemeanor attempted assault, stemming from an October 2008 incident in which his wife said her husband kicked and punched her.

The 45-year-old anchor, who was once an influential reporter at New York City's NY1, was sentenced in Ramapo Town Court Thursday to serve a month behind bars in the Rockland County jail. He was ordered to stay away from his wife for up to two years, a sentence his lawyer has called "draconian."

Carter on the verge of tears
During the sentencing, Ramapo Town Justice Arnold Etelson said Carter displays "the classic case of a domestic abuser," according to New York Daily News.

The angry judge ordered him to undergo psychiatric treatment for violent tendencies.

"If you learn nothing else from this incident," Etelson old Carter in court, "next time you get involved in a heated argument, step back, count slowly to ten and walk away."

The tearful Carter told his 21-year-old daughter, "It's on you, Courtney, to be a big girl," as he headed for the Rockland County jail.

Advise to Carter’s wife
Daily reports that Etelson also gave Carter’s wife, Marilyn Carter, a green sticker that reads "Attitude Makes the Difference."

"I want you to post it on your bathroom mirror so that you'll see it when he comes home," Etelson said as he handed it to Marilyn.

He told Marilyn, "Mrs. Carter, your life is at stake," reports Washington Post.

Besides 30-day jail time, Justice Etelson also imposed 52 weeks of domestic violence classes and ordered him to take appropriate medication to deal with his violent outbursts.

“If you don’t take your medications, you’re not going to see your wife for two years,” he ruled.

Dramatic assault case
Carter was convicted in November of third-degree attempted assault for beating his 56-yrar-old wife in their Ramapo home. Marilyn initially told a 911 operator and the police that her husband had punched, kicked and choked her. But during the Nov. trial, she testified that it was not her husband who had beaten her, but an unnamed day laborer.

Even before the sentencing yesterday, she pleaded with the judge to be lenient, New York Times reports.

“I think he’s been punished enough,” she said. “His career is gone, our livelihood is gone.”

Justice denied mercy
But Justice Etelson criticized Carter and Marilyn, saying he didn't believe "for a second" the couple's story that Marilyn Carter had actually been beaten by a day laborer in Oct. 2008.

"What you and your wife presented at court was a pack of lies," Etelson said. "Mr. Carter, don't mess with the American judicial system."

Apparently not happy with the sentencing, Carter's lawyer Martin Gotkin said he will seek an emergency stay until at least Tuesday when he can appeal the decision in state Supreme Court in New City.

"I've never heard of anything like a judge telling a wife she can no longer be with her husband," Gotkin said, adding, "They love each other and she wants him home."