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“Abuse and controlling behavior take many forms,” Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian told Joseph Bravo-Calle, clearly not pleased to see him back in the same Hackensack courtroom for the same offense.
“And now you’re sorry? What about the first time?” the judge said, citing a July arrest from last year.
“Take my apology, and give me another chance,” Bravo-Calle asked Jerejian, offering to pay the victim’s medical bills.
His attorney, Scott Bazzani, told the judge that Bravo-Calle — who just turned 21 two weeks ago — has completed a plumber certification course and is straightening out his life.
The victim, Jerejian countered, has “scars that will affect her for life.”
If it happens again, the judge warned Bravo-Calle, he’ll send him to prison for five years.
The victim’s father said he spoke in his daughter’s place today before Jerejian issued the sentence because she was too frightened to. She’s now in therapy, he said.
He told the judge that during the course of the relationship, his daughter had “split lips, black eyes, and bite marks on her body.”
“Bite marks,” the father repeated. “We had repeated calls from hospitals and police.
“Or maybe someday, he hits her a little too hard one time, and now we don’t have a daughter anymore,” he added, a quiver in his voice.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Jessica Gomperts told Jerejian that Bravo-Calle was also charged with assault on the same woman in Hudson County, that he repeatedly violated restraining orders not to contact her, and that he is still facing robbery charges
STORY / PHOTO: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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