Bobbitt 'batters wife'
2005-09-22 10:27
Las Vegas - A man whose domestic troubles gained notoriety when his then-wife cut off his penis in an argument 12 years ago has been arrested and charged with battery on his current wife.
John Wayne Bobbitt, 38, filed for divorce on Monday following his arrest last weekend on a domestic battery charge involving Joanna Ferrell, Bobbitt's lawyer said on Wednesday.
It was at least the third arrest for Bobbitt in Las Vegas involving Ferrell. He posted $10 132 bail and was freed on Tuesday, police said.
Bobbitt was arrested on Saturday morning after he was accused of chasing Ferrell, 40, and pushing her to the ground outside his moving company job in an industrial section of Las Vegas.
Bobbitt's lawyer, Barry Levinson, said Bobbitt was falsely charged after an argument about money. Bobbitt filed for divorce under the name John W Ferrell, which Levinson said Bobbitt has been using.
Bobbitt's penis was surgically reattached after the 1993 attack. His then-wife, Lorena, was found innocent by reason of insanity after arguing that Bobbitt had abused her.
Bobbitt was acquitted of a domestic violence charge after an August 2004 incident involving Joanna Ferrell. She filed for divorce but the two reconciled.
Bobbitt was convicted in February 2003 of battery involving Ferrell. The conviction prompted a judge to revoke probation and sentence Bobbitt to prison for his role in a 1999 theft at a store in northern Nevada.
- AP