Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 32-year-old woman from Ottoville accused of assaulting her husband while he was holding their 2-year-old daughter was arrested by police Wednesday night, and appeared in District Court yesterday morning for her initial appearance.

She is represented by Assistant Public Defender, Ryan Anderson while prosecuting the case is Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey.

The defendant is charged with third degree assault, public peace disturbance, and endangering the welfare of a child — all misdemeanors.

She was later released on her own recognizance by District Court Judge Fiti Sunia, subject to certain conditions. She is not to have any contact with the government’s witnesses including her husband, and she has to find another place to stay while her case is pending in court.

She was also ordered not to leave the territory and to make all of her court appearances.

The government claims the alleged incident began with a heated verbal argument between the defendant and her husband’s sister; it escalated when the defendant’s mother became involved in the verbal argument, and then the husband jumped in, siding with his mother and sister.

In anger, the defendant went inside their house and started throwing things outside of the house, including clothes and dishes.

The husband, who is the victim in this case, tried to interfere; however, out of anger, the defendant allegedly punched him in the face multiple times while he was holding their 2-year-old daughter.

The husband’s mother and sister saw the defendant’s actions and immediately contacted police for assistance.

When the police unit arrived, the defendant left the house, walked straight to the police unit and told police to take her away from her family and put her in custody so she can have ‘peace of mind’.

(Samoa News by policy does not identify the name of defendants or victims in a domestic violence case.)