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EIGHT NEWS AT FIVE. A DES MOINES MAN IS HEADED TO PRISON FOR ASSAULTING AND CHOKING HIS FORMER GIRLFRIEND. BRIAN SCOTT COOPER IS A CONVICTED HABITUAL DOMESTIC ABUSER. AND TODAY I SPOKE WITH THE DRAKE LAW SCHOOL STUDENT WHO HELPED PUT HIM BEHIND BARS. I STOOD UP AND CAME OVER HERE AND WE HAD A PODIUM, AND THAT’S WHERE I DELIVERED THE OPENING STATEMENT. DRAKE, LAW SCHOOL STUDENT MONICA PEDIG ALREADY KNOWS HER WAY AROUND A COURTROOM. PUBLIC SPEAKING IS NOT SOMETHING THAT COMES NATURALLY TO ME. DESPITE HER DISCOMFORT OF TALKING IN FRONT OF A CROWD, THE THIRD YEAR LAW SCHOOL STUDENT RECENTLY HELPED SEND A HABITUAL DOMESTIC ABUSER TO PRISON. JUST GETTING JUSTICE FOR THAT VICTIM, SPECIFICALLY, FOR ME PERSONALLY, THAT WAS WHAT MADE IT FEEL SO GREAT. ON TUESDAY, A JUDGE SENTENCED BRIAN SCOTT COOPER TO UP TO 30 YEARS IN PRISON FOR VIOLENTLY ASSAULTING HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND, WAS PART OF THE PROSECUTION TEAM. THE POLK COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE HAS BEEN A GREAT PARTNER IN US, LETTING US AND HELPING US USE OUR STUDENTS TO GAIN VALUABLE EXPERIENCE THAT THEY WOULDN’T GET ANYWHERE ELSE. DRAKE LAW SCHOOL IS THE ONLY PROGRAM IN THE COUNTRY THAT SUSPENDS CLASSES FOR A WEEK. SO FIRST YEAR LAW SCHOOL STUDENTS CAN WATCH A REAL TRIAL AND THIRD YEAR STUDENTS LIKE PEDIG GET A CHANCE TO PROSECUTE. SHE DID GREAT. I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY VERY NERVOUS, BUT STILL DID A WONDERFUL JOB. COOPER’S CASE WAS PARTICULARLY VIOLENT. SECURITY CAMERA CAPTURED HIM BEATING AND STRANGLING THE VICTIM. I THINK SEEING THOSE EXHIBITS, WATCHING THOSE VIDEOS DEFINITELY MAKES YOUR STOMACH CHURN. BUT I THINK THAT’S A GOOD THING. AND I’VE BEEN TOLD BY MANY ATTORNEYS, AND I THINK THIS IS COMMON SENSE, THAT THE SECOND THAT DOESN’T MAKE YOU FEEL THAT WAY, THAT MIGHT BE A PROBLEM YOU DON’T WANT TO BECOME SO DESENSITIZED TO THIS THAT YOU FORGET IT’S HAPPENING TO AN ACTUAL HUMAN. WHILE PUBLIC SPEAKING DOES NOT COME NATURALLY TO PEDIG, EMPATHY DOES. SHE SAYS CONNECTING WITH VICTIMS ON A DEEPER LEVEL WHILE FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE FOR THEM IS THE MOST REWARDING PART OF BEING A PROSECUTOR. I JUST THINK THAT COMES FROM GROWING UP. I HAD A BROTHER WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, AND SO BEING AN ADVOCATE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS SO INHERENT TO ME. IT JUST SEEMED VERY NATURAL. AND SO, YOU KNOW, WORKING TO GIVE HIM A VOICE OR HELP HIM WITH HIS VOICE GROWING UP NOW, BEING ABLE TO DO THAT FOR VICTIMS AND FOR JUST THE PEOPLE OF POLK COUNTY WHILE STILL BEING A STUDENT, HAS BEEN BY FAR MY MOST MY FAVORITE EXPERIENCE OUT OF LAW SCHOOL. AND THIS WAS ACTUALLY HIS NINTH TRIAL, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT. LOVE HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER BROTHER AND JUST SUCH A SPECIAL THING THAT SHE’S DOING. A PASSION THAT SHE HAS. EVERYONE H