State Representative Mark Olson takes stand in own defense

State Representative Mark Olson broke down and cried many times Thursday on the witness stand, as he attempted to defend himself against charges of domestic assault. He also created an image of a man living in fear, struggling to quell a hostile spouse and hold a marriage together.

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"But I was wrong to have that fear. God rebuked me, love thinketh no ill," he continued quoting a Biblical passage.

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And yet he said he took the blame for all of the discord in the home, because as the head of the household or the "strong man of the home" he was ultimately responsible for keeping the peace. He said he failed in that capacity.

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Much of his testimony Thursday involved his understanding of the roles of husband and wife in a Christian family. The reason his defense lawyer is focusing on that aspect of the relationship is to make a case that Sherburne County Sheriff's Office investigators misinterpreted Olson's statements when they interviewed him in jail.



More:
http://www.kare11.com/news/ts_article.aspx?storyid=259751

And since the OP didn't mention it, dude's a Republican, and this is in Minnesota. What a shame that it's almost safe to assume that a politician on trial nowadays is a Republican.

My heart goes out to the Olsons. Good luck to them all.