Opinion ID: 1910611
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background Testimony

Text: Appellant testified that when she met her husband, Dr. Ibn-Tamas, she was working as a registered nurse in the prenatal care unit at Jacobi Hospital in New York City, where he was a resident in neurosurgery. Shortly after the doctor's divorce from his first wife in September 1972, he married appellant. They located in Miami, Florida, where he was finishing his residency. Appellant continued to work as a private duty nurse until the birth of their daughter the following autumn. In 1974, the family moved to Washington, D. C., where the doctor, assisted by his wife, established a private practice out of an office in their home. The marriage was marred by recurring violent episodes separated by periods of relative harmony. In 1974, for example, the doctor accused his wife's visiting friend of being a lesbian and abruptly ordered her to leave their apartment. When Mrs. Ibn-Tamas later protested his rudeness, he struck her with his fist, a shoe, and another object, and dragged her and their six-month-old baby off a bed and onto the floor. Several weeks later, during an argument at his mother's house, the doctor allegedly pulled the appellant from her chair onto a cement porch and caused her to lose consciousness by putting his knee to her neck. [2] Days later, he threatened her with a loaded gun when she hesitated over co-signing some financial documents. Shortly thereafter, while they were driving north to Washington to establish their new residence, the doctor and his wife argued over whether she would have to stay at his mother's house while their new home was being prepared. He ended the argument by forcing her out of the car along an interstate highway and driving off with their infant daughter. Life improved for the Ibn-Tamases temporarily after their move to Washington; but throughout the first two months of 1976 their relationship became increasingly marked by violence. Although Mrs. Ibn-Tamas was several months pregnant with their second child, the doctor on two occasions in January and February punched her in the neck and hit her in the head and face with his fists, [3] leaving her in one instance with a split and bleeding lip. During this period, Dr. Ibn-Tamas also abused appellant verbally, saying that the child she was carrying was not his and threatening her with a fractured skull should she attempt to leave or seek a divorce. In addition to this first-hand experience, Mrs. Ibn-Tamas claimed at her trial to have been aware, prior to February 23, 1976, of similar violent incidents involving her husband and others. [4] The testimony of Olga Powell indicated that on April 7, 1971, Dr. Ibn-Tamas, then known as Robert Gamble, [5] ordered Ms. Powell out of the apartment that she shared with the doctor and his first wife. When she demurred, the doctor broke down her door, fired a .38 caliber revolver in her direction, and threw her belongings out the window. A criminal complaint for assault with a weapon was later reduced to an administrative fine. The decedent's first wife, Barbara Gamble Carter, testified that on March 23, 1971, she called the police after the doctor had pushed her onto the floor and hit her with a clenched fist during a fight. The doctor left for work just before the police arrived in response to her call. [6] Finally, Marshall Whitley, a relative of the decedent's sister-in-law, testified that on June 29, 1974, the doctor had come to his family home, got into an argument, and pulled a gun on Mr. Whitley and his father. As a result of the incident, Mr. Whitley filed a citizen's complaint against the doctor with the United States Attorney's Office. [7]