To whom this may concern:
I have been with my ex-boyfriend for only 11 months and he had addictions to alcohol and marijuana. We fought a lot which resulted in him abusing me: breaking my finger and choking me. Other times, they were pushes and punches to the head. I didn't report him because I didn't want him to get in any more trouble than he already was (he is a repeated offender). In our last month together, we struggled with our relationship which the main problem was his drinking and he got very violent. He punched holes in walls of his room and walls of mine (though I got them repaired). He took my car without my permission while drinking and I called the police because I didn't know if he was safe. This resulted in his second DUI. So the night I got arrested, he had told me he was breaking up with me and I said I was coming over to get my xbox from him and upon my arrival, he was already drinking. When I went upstairs to his room, he cursed at me. I tried to remove the cords from his television and he would not help me and the TV was about to fall and so I asked him to help me and he didn't. He just nudged me on the arm and I just slapped him. I slapped him 3 times and pushed him over to the bed. After that, it was just me yelling at him. He dialed 911 and didn't really tell them what was going on except to say his jaw was hurting (which finds out nothing was broken or anything). He then just hung up so the police comes over and they come in. I not realizing my rights at the time just told them what happened. Had I known I would be in this position, I would've just remained silent until I had a lawyer but now I'm in this situation where I'm being sentenced for 10 days of county jail, 3 years of probation, 1 year of anger management classes, and 40 hours of community service. I am a full-time student at a prestigious university (not that that matters; I am a student regardless). I work part-time. It's my 4th year in school. I'm just starting to get my life together and this happens. I just want a fair judgement. I will gladly take punishment for ever putting my hands on him but it was out of mania. I had just had enough of him and I couldn't bare the pain anymore. Please help me. What are my options? What can I do? This is my first offense and definitely my last. I am contacting a few lawyers for law advice and counselin anyway. My Public defender declared not guilty. btw.

