Opinion ID: 844200
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Tina Kidwell

Text: Tina Kidwell, formerly Perfater, testified concerning her two-year relationship with defendant. Kidwell met defendant in St. Louis in 1980, when she was 18 years of age and defendant was working with Kidwell‘s brothers. They dated for about six months before Kidwell and her baby son moved in with defendant. She moved out three months later, but they continued to see each other. During the course of their relationship, Kidwell and defendant often drank alcohol together. Some incidents of violence occurred while they were intoxicated, but others occurred when defendant simply ―had a bad day at work.‖ During their relationship, Kidwell estimated that defendant hit her with his closed fists approximately five times. On one occasion, Kidwell and defendant had an argument, and defendant wanted her to leave the house, but Kidwell first wanted to get a bottle of milk for her son. Defendant shoved her outside and ―slammed‖ the door behind her. He refused to let Kidwell back in, threatening to ―beat [her] ass‖ and telling her to ―get out‖ of there. During another incident, defendant, apparently dissatisfied with a meal Kidwell had prepared, overturned the kitchen table and pushed Kidwell across the room. Another time, defendant became angry 26 because Kidwell served chili that was not homemade. He threw the pot across the kitchen, shoved Kidwell, overturned the table, and then physically removed Kidwell from the house. A final incident occurred on Christmas Eve in 1982, while Kidwell was living in an apartment with her son and defendant was staying with them for a few nights. That evening, they had some neighbors over for a party. Defendant became jealous, put his fist through a window, and then left the house. Kidwell had no further contact with him after that incident. After Kidwell stopped dating defendant, another woman, Elsie S., accused her of having a relationship with him. A fight ensued between the women, during which Kidwell cut Elsie S.‘s face with a box cutter.