General legal information furnished as a service of Fort Lauderdale / West Palm Beach family law attorney Janet Langjahr
Turkish Man living in France seeks to marry and bring a Turkish Woman to live with him in France.
Only that particular Woman had been accepted to college and has her heart set on attending.
So the Man promises the Woman that she will be able to go to university after the marriage.
So the Woman marries the Man.
But he does not allow the Woman to go to college.
In fact, he literally locks Woman inside the house in France.
To do housework.
Woman returns to Turkey and files for divorce.
Woman alleges that Husband is violent and that his family mistreats her.
The Court grants the divorce and, concluding that this case is not that different from a case of physical violence:
Read more in this Hurriyet [Turkey] Daily News article: Man found guilty of ’social violence’.
New York state Husband and Wife have four children together.
Husband sustained a brain injury in a car accident several years ago and has a “mental health history”.
Wife files for divorce and child custody.
Husband allegedly stabs Son in the chest during a “domestic incident” at home.
Husband is charged with attempted murder of Son.
Husband is incarcerated pending his trial.
And the Court enters an injunction for protection against domestic violence, or order of protection, prohibiting Husband from writing or calling Wife or their four children.
The charge against Husband carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Read more in this Buffalo News article: West Seneca man indicted for stabbing his six-year-old son and this WIVB TV 4 article: Father charged with
stabbing son.
Haitian immigrant Mother thinks 6 year old Daughter is possessed by evil spirits.
Mother resolves to rid Daughter of them. With a voodoo ritual.
Mother allegedly pours rum on the floor in a circle surrounding Daughter and then pours some more on Daughter’s head and then … sets fire to Daughter.
When Daughter is engulfed in flames, Grandmother puts the fire out with water.
Then Mother and Grandmother simply bathe and put Daughter to bed, without any medical treatment.
Not until the next day, at a relative’s urging, does Mother take Daughter to a hospital.
Daughter has second and third degree burns over twenty-five percent of her body.
Mother is charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
Mother denies her guilt and tells police the incident was an accident caused by Daughter startling her while she was boiling rice.
Mother also denies awareness of Daughter’s burns.
Mother blames Grandmother for putting Daughter to bed without medical treatment.
Grandmother is charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.
Daughter, still in the hospital in a medically induced coma, is now in child protective custody.
Daughter told her foster caregiver what happened.
Neighbors reportedly heard Mother and Grandmother yelling at Daughter to remain down on her knees for hours on end on various occasions.
It does not appear that any of the neighbors ever called the child abuse hotline or the police to intervene on Daughter’s behalf.
An upstate New York Man doesn’t get the message.
On one occasion, the Man was found at a Woman’s home with a knife.
Man was sentenced to 2 years’ incarceration for stalking the Woman and criminal contempt for violating a no contact order.
The Man’s incarceration was concluded at a hospital. Upon his release from the hospital the Man went … to the Woman’s home.
The Woman called the police and the Man left … only to return later the same day. At which time he was arrested again.
Resisting arrest was added to the charges against the Man this time around.
The Man and Woman met online and had gpne out a few times. The Man would not let the Woman break up with him.
The Man is obsessed. The Court let the Man off relatively easy, arguably perceiving the Man’s obsession with Woman as benign.
Read more in this Syracuse Post Standard article: Convicted stalker accused of stalking victim again.
Imagine.
Woman gets injunction for protection against domestic violence, or order of protection, against her ex-husband (Abuser).
Woman moves away to another city in the hopes of avoiding Abuser altogether.
Woman remarries and begins new life.
Abuser contacts police.
Abuser tells police that he has papers for Woman, but needs Woman’s address to get papers to her.
Police officer (Officer) locates Woman’s address in motor vehicle records …
Officer reportedly gives Woman’s address to Abuser.
Now armed with Woman’s address, Abuser allegedly sends Woman a note via a taxi to her home.
Abuser also allegedly makes threatening phone calls to Woman’s home.
All possible only because Officer gave out Woman’s address, to which Officer has access, for police business as a police officer, through motor vehicles records.
Woman and her husband sue Officer for allegedly handing Woman’s address over to Abuser.
Officer is found guilty of violating the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
Case is settled for $337,000, plus Woman’s attorney’s fees.
Officer is still on the police force.
But he was reprimanded for giving Woman’s address to Abuser, and possibly jeopardizing Woman’s life.
Imagine.
Read more in this [Janesville, WI] WCLO 1230AM news article: Lawsuit against Evansville police officer settled for $337,500.
Minnesota Boy removed from parents’ home and placed in foster care on a child welfare agency petition alleging that Boy needed protection or services.
Over two years later, still no resolution to Boy’s case.
Boy’s parents have had only supervised visitation with Boy since case began two years ago.
Why?
Boy’s parents’ first child died a death that was ruled a homicide.
But neither parent was ever charged in the death.
No one was charged in the death.
Reportedly because there was insufficient evidence as to which parent, or whether both parents acting together, were the aggressor. Or whether a third party was involved.
At a trial to terminate Boy’s parents’ parental rights, the court did in fact terminate their rights.
On appeal, the intermediate level appellate court reversed the termination due to insufficient evidence.
The Boy’s parents are now seeking his immediate return from foster care.
But the file has to come back from the appeals court first.
Then there is the hair-splitting question of whether the child protection investigation remains open, despite the reversal and closing of the termination of parental rights case.
Arguably an end run around the appeals court. Arguably not.
Read more in this St Cloud [MN] Times article: Custody of boy remains in limbo.
A new medical specialty emerges: child abuse pediatrics.
A physican can now study a concentrated curriculum and become board-certified in child abuse.
Unfortunately, there is much need for forensic experts in physical and sexual abuse of children.
Could the burn (or other inury) have been an accident?
Was the child sexually abused?
Forensic child abuse pediatrics holds the answers to these and many other equally disturbing questions.
Many suspected cases of child abuse are not borne out by forensics. They are likely either accidents or injuries resulting from unusual medical conditions.
These specialists will hold the keys to criminal prosecutions, removal of children from their homes, and child custody and timesharing decisions.
Read more in this New York Times article: The Marks of Childhood or the Marks of Abuse?
Injunctions for Protection against Domestic Violence. Orders of Protection. A rose by any other name.
Court orders all. Literally, pieces of paper.
According to a Justice Department study, more than 3 million people are stalked in a single year.
In Massachusetts, one-quarter of all restraining orders in effect each year are violated. Twenty-five percent.
It is reported that one-quarter of domestic homicide victims in Massachusetts had orders of protection in place against their murderers. Twenty-five percent.
One domestic violence victim insists her abuser violated the restraining order she had against him thirty times over four years. Thirty times.
These are the reasons why a growing number of states are putting teeth behind those pieces of paper called injunctions for protection against domestic violence …
Global positioning devices, worn by violators of restraining orders against them.
The devices serve to prove where the abuser was and, even more importantly, notify police when the abuser is somewhere he or she is not supposed to be under the terms of the restraining order against them.
So far, twelve states are using global positioning technology to enforce orders of protection, with some 5,000 abusers wearing the devices.
Both numbers will likely rise in time.
Read more in this New York Times article: More States Use GPS to Track Abusers .
Husband is convicted of sexually assaulting Wife.
Wife is terrified that Husband will kill her.
Husband allegedly threatens to dismember her.
Wife flees to Australia with their two Children.
But the Australian courts rule that England has child custody jurisdiction under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Wife returns to England with Children.
Police are summoned to intervene in domestic clashes several times.
Police give Wife a “panic alarm”.
About a year after Wife’s return, Husband allegedly drags her from a car and stabs her to death … in front of her own mother and their Children.
Just a few hours after she begged British police for protection.
While she was in the midst of trying to flee from Husband again.
Husband is convicted of murder.
He will serve at least eighteen years in confinement.
Read more in this Brisbane [Australia] Times article: Young mother fled to Sydney to save her life.
Alabama takes domestic violence seriously, with a progessive new infrastructure.
Now, victims of domestic violence can prepare their petitions for an injunction for protection against domestic violence on any internet-connected computer.
From there, the data in the petition is electronically transmitted via the internet to law enforcement.
When domestic violence victims arrive at the courthouse, they can simply print out their waiting petitions for orders of protection and sign them.
Then the information will be electronically transmitted to the domestic violence judge on duty.
One of the communities where the new system will launch typically enters 25 injunctions for protection against domestic violence per week.
Read more in this Huntsville [AL] WHNT News 19 article: Protection From Abuse Orders Going Online.
In one North Carolina county, the number of children in foster care has gone down, pretty dramatically, over the last several years.
How did they accomplish it?
The child welfare agency there has been experimenting with several preventative, early intervention programs, using government and charitable funds grants.
Each program or service has a different focus, such as:
Between 2002 and 2009, the number of children in foster care in this North Carolina county shrank from 573 to 396.
Read more in this [Greensboro, NC] News & Record article: Editorial: Keeping families whole.
Central Florida Husband and Wife, a nurse, are going through a divorce three years into their marriage.
Wife reportedly enters Husband’s home to collect things, expecting him to be away.
Husband drives a truck, and had previously purchased a taser gun, reportedly for protection from Wife (and, possibly, others, while on the road on his truck).
Husband returns.
Couple argue.
Wife allegedly punches Husband in nose.
Husband shoots Wife with his taser gun, allegedly in self-defense and to stop her from getting a kitchen knife.
Wife is arrested for battery.
Husband is not arrested.
Read more in this Orlando Fox TV 35 News article: Man says he tasered wife in defense and this Phoenix Fox KSAZ TV 10 news article: Husband uses Taser on Wife to stop Beating.
Mother and Father have Baby.
Mother lives in North Carolina with Baby.
Father, a member of the armed forces, removes Baby and brings Baby to live with him on base in California.
Implication is that Baby may be at risk with Mother.
There is no information as to whether a court ever determined custody or whether Mother ever sought Baby’s return.
Some time later, seven month old Baby dies while in Father’s care.
Of blunt force trauma to head and abdomen.
Father arrested for child abuse causing death.
Father faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Read more in this [Barstow, CA] Desert Dispatch article:Former soldier charged in fatal child abuse case goes to trial.
There’s an epidemic sweeping parts of Florida, maybe more. It’s not swine flu.
It’s domestic violence.
One of the areas in which it is most pervasive is Orange County, in central Florida. Ironically, Disney territory.
Not only poor areas. But also areas near the University of Central Florida.
The police, sheriff’s office, the Department of Children and Family Services and Harbor House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, are joining forces to take aim at the problem.
Drop in centers to educate victims on their options are planned for domestic violence hotspots throughout the county, based on what is being called a “domestic abuse map”.
Mapped hotspots correspond to transient communities.
Last year, 5000 incidents of family violence were reported in Orange County.
As of the year 2000, the county’s population was under 900,000.
Shelters and related facilities in Orange County are already strained to capacity.
Read more in this Orlando Sentinel article: Domestic-abuse map points the way for help and the portal About’s Central Florida Statistics.
Husband and Wife’s divorce trial was just a few days away.
But no one saw anything amiss.
There was no history of police reports of domestic violence at their home during their twenty-two year marriage.
But Wife alleged both physical and emotional abuse in her divorce filings.
Husband’s sister flew in from out of town to testify for him at the trial.
And when Husband and his two children were alone with hs sister, Husband allegedly shot and killed them all, including himself.
Husband’s parents and lawyer couldn’t believe he was capable of such acts.
Read more in this [Huntsville, AL] WHNT-TV article: Inside Look: Kevin and Tammy Garner’s Divorce Papers.
A 2 year old central Florida Child was slowly beaten to death … allegedly by her adoptive Mother.
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) believes that Mother must have been mentally ill, although never diagnosed.
Mother was arrested on first degree murder and child abuse and neglect.
DCF’s investigation into the Child’s death revealed that her maternal grandmother was aware of Mother’s sometimes abusive behavior toward Child but did nothing.
DCF concluded that Mother and her husband were a threat to any child in their custody.
Mother and her husband have five other adopted children under the age of eight.
The other children were placed in foster care.
So much for the preadoption home study …
Read more in this Ocala Star-Banner article: DCF report documents tot’s severe beating, troubled mom.
Mother is late for court.
Mother asks for visitation with her Daughter.
Judge denies her request for visitation.
And lectures Mother about being on time for court.
Hearing is rescheduled.
Mother is accused of burning the word “wimp” into the flesh of Daughter’s neck.
Mother is charged with twenty counts of child abuse and malicious wounding.
Daughter is in child protective custody.
Mother is out on bail.
Read more in this [Wheeling, WV] WTRF TV 7 news article: “Wimp” Burn Suspect Denied Visitation with Daughter, Late for Court.
Domestic violence may take many forms, some quite unexpected.
A central Florida Mother and her adult Son go to a shooting range to practice their marksmanship together.
One minute, everything is fine. They are socializing with each other and others.
The next, the Son is shooting at a target and … the Mother is shooting at the Son … the back of his head.
Then the Mother shoots herself … also in the head.
Both Mother and Son die.
No warning. No note. No explanation.
Except, perhaps, that Mother had some history of mental illness.
But she was able to rent a gun at the range.
Read more in this Orlando Sentinel article: Police: Woman used rented gun in murder-suicide; actions appeared ‘deliberate’.
Battering Spouse in Oklahoma reportedly abuses Battered Spouse and their children for years.
Both Battered Spouse and Battering Spouse are alcoholics, which escalates the battering.
Battered Spouse obtains several orders of protection from Battering Spouse over time.
Battering Spouse and Battered Spouse divorce.
Then remarry.
Battering Spouse allegedly beats and then shoots Battered Spouse.
Battered Spouse dies.
Battering Spouse is convicted of domestic violence.
Battering Spouse is incarcerated.
Battered Spouse’s mother didn’t think Battering Spouse could kill someone.
Battered Spouse’s sister has custody of Battered Spouse’s kids now.
Battered Spouse is the late Husband of Battering Spouse.
Even Battered Spouse’s mother didn’t know know he was a victim of repeated acts of domestic violence.
Most “battered women’s shelters” offer services to battered men as well.
Read more in this Tulsa KOTV News On 6 article: Murdered Man Victim Of Domestic Abuse.
Virginia Mother and Father conceive a Child.
Mother and Father split up before Father learns of pregnancy.
Years pass.
Mother introduces Child to Father.
Father is now married to another woman.
Father seeks visitation.
Mother and Father engage in bitter court battle.
And then the Court reportedly awards Father sole custody.
Mother starts Children Without a Voice, an advocacy group for women who have lost custody to their children’s father.
Mother allegedly decides to hire a hit man to murder Father and get him out of the picture.
Except the hit man Mother pays is an undercover law enforcement officer.
Mother is arrested for solicitation to commit murder … and attempted murder.
Mother pleads guilty to attempted murder, and the remaining charges are dropped.
Mother faces two terms of incarceration for life, plus a $200,000 fine.
Of course, Mother still won’t have custody of Child.
And Mother’s visitation, if any, will be less than optimal.
Read more in this Culpeper [VA] Star-Exponent article: Woman guilty of plotting murder.
Maine Husband and Wife are engaged in child custody battle.
Wife accuses Husband of raping and sodomizing her, charged as multiple counts of gross sexual assault.
Defense counsel wants to introduce the custody dispute into evidence as a motive for Wife to falsely accuse Husband of sexually assaulting her. The defense also wants to introduce evidence that Husband sought an order of protection against Wife.
The trial court excludes any such evidence by the defense.
At the same time, the prosecution reportedly repeatedly denies the existence of a custody dispute to the jury.
Husband is convicted of some but not all of the charged counts of gross sexual assault, a felony punishable by up to thirty years’ confinement.
Husband moves for a new trial, contending that his trial was unfair and that he was denied due process for the above and additional reasons.
The Husband is granted a new trial.
The prosecution is contemplating appealing that ruling.
Read more in this Ellsworth [ME] American article: New Trial for Man Convicted Of Wife Rape.
Interestingly, comments posted by members of this small town, local community uniformly suggest that the article contains inaccuracies and bias in favor of Husband.
Husband and Wife are in second marriage (two years) for each.
Husband has children with his Ex.
Wife and Ex don’t get along.
To put it mildly.
Ex, and Husband’s two children with her, all have separate orders of protection against Wife.
Based on approximately 20 allegedly abusive phone calls.
According to Ex, police have warned Wife to “stop” making such calls.
Ex is reportedly set to testify against Wife in a custody modification hearing regarding her children with her ex-husband.
Wife allegedly has some fifteen orders of protection entered against her since 2002, not all from Ex. Another is in process.
Investigating neighbors recently found Husband and Wife dead in their home.
Read more in this St. Louis [MO] Post-Dispatch article: Two found dead in home near St. Peters.
Woman has 4 year old child.
Woman’s body is found on roof of her apartment building.
Woman’s body’s arms and legs are chopped off.
Woman’s throat is slashed.
Woman’s body is burned.
Suspect is arrested in her murder … her Boyfriend.
Boyfriend allegedly violated an order of protection.
Boyfriend was previously arrested for assaulting Woman.
And possession of weapons. Among other charges.
Domestic violence is still alive and well …
Sadly, Woman, a mother, is not.
Read more in this Daily News article: Boyfriend charged in murder of mutilated girlfriend.
Mother is sentenced to ten year prison term for robbery conviction.
Mother, believing she has no other option, reluctantly relinquishes her parental rights to her 4 year old Daughter.
Woman adopts Daughter. Woman allegedly abuses Daughter. More than once.
Now, Woman faces multiple charges of child neglect, aggravated kidnapping and assault.
The child welfare agency (DCS) has taken Daughter into protective custody and is seeking a permanent placement for Daughter.
And Mother, since released from prison, would like to get custody of Daughter restored to her.
DSC indicates that it will consider Mother’s request as well as Daughter’s wishes.
It is unclear whether Mother stands in any better position as any other applicant for custody.
Read more in this WTVF TV 5 news article: Mother Wants Custody Of Her Biological Daughter.
Immigrant Muslim Husband and Wife are divorcing.
Husband founded TV station with mission of portraying Muslims as peace-loving.
Husband reportedly became violent with Wife.
Wife obtains order of protection barring Husband from marital home.
Husband allegedly murders Wife … by beheading her … at the TV station.
Husband turns himself in to authorities.
Husband is charged with murder.
Husband was reportedly under stress because his business wasn’t doing well lately.
There has been some speculation as to whether the murder was a so-called “honor killing” under Islam.
Read more in this New York Post article: BUFFALO ‘BEHEADING’ and this Times of India article: Pak-American beheads wife, sparks debate about Sharia.
Hard times are pushing many into mental illness, reports an article in the Buffalo [NY] News.
The article talks about widespread stressors these days, such as: recession, the mortgage crisis, foreclosures, layoffs, business closings, credit crunch, gas prices and inflation, Ponzi schemes, devalued retirement savings, and snow and cold (well, at least that one doesn’t apply here in South Florida).
Of one couple’s three adult children, two are laid off and one is unemployed.
Anxiety is commonplace and - some people are slipping over the edge. Sometimes with killing sprees and suicides.
Experts recommend reaching out to others, trying to avoid the barrage of gloom and doom from media and others, and staying focused and anchored in the here and now.
The article barely mentions family law matters. Just one casual reference to a “recently divorced” man who was racking up debt after losing his job and was saddled with an alimony obligation on top of that.
But all of these stressors on individuals also affect their families and exes.
At best, they can inspire more frequent and heated arguments and disharmony into the family. At worst, they can incite domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency and more.
Read more in Hard times are pushing many into mental illness.
Most of us associate Niagara Falls with honeymoons.
But that’s not what people who live there are thinking about lately.
Domestic violence is on the rise in the county, both in frequency and severity.
In one recent incident, a mother was allegedly both stabbed and shot by her ex-boyfriend - after she obtained an order of protection from him.
The ex-boyfriend also reportedly shot two police officers who came to her aid.
Ironically, the attack occurred next door to a church.
In other recent incidents, a husband shot his wife in the head.
And a teenaged boy shot and killed a teenaged girl and then himself.
Local shelters, stretched to capacity, emphasize the importance of having a safe exit plan and a support system in place before leaving a relationship with domestic violence.
Read more in this Buffalo [NY] WKBW-TV 7 news article: Spike of Domestic Violence in Niagara County.
Retired NY police officer (Husband) is on trial for murder … of his former Wife. He allegedly killed her in 2007, while she was waiting to pick up their now 27 year old Daughter from a Park and Ride location.
The couple separated in 1999 and their divorce was finalized in 2003.
Wife was awarded child support, alimony, half the proceeds of sale of the marital home, her jewelry and most of Husband’s police pension. Husband was most recently employed as a manager at a fast foot restaurant in Florida.
Husband tried to negotiate a better settlement through Daughter, with whom he had had no other contact since 2000. He wrote in an unsolicited note that the judge “stole” from him and “I intend to get it back”.
Daughter had disowned Husband and, out of fear, had taken steps to keep information about herself from him. She found the note in her car.
Husband’s co-worker testified that he spoke more than once, over the course of a year, of wanting to kill his ex-Wife for taking his money.
At 63 years of age, Husband faces 25 years’ confinement to life. And his worries over his assets have likely been displaced by others.
Read more in this Staten Island Advance article: Daughter disowns cop who’s on trial for murder and Co-worker says cop joked about killing his ex-wife.
Australian Father and Mother battle over custody of their three children.
They are in court two days in a row.
The next day, Father allegedly stands on a bridge and throws 4 year old Daughter over the side of it, into a river.
The couple’s other two children may be in the car during the incident.
Daughter dies.
Father is charged with murder. Father faces a possible life sentence if convicted of the charge.
Father is deemed “psychologically unfit” to appear in the initial criminal proceedings.
There likely won’t be much of a battle over custody over the two surviving children, even if Father is not deemed “psychologically unfit” to appear in family court.
Read more in this [Lake Charles, LA] KPLC 7 NBC TV news article: Man charged with daughter’s death plunge involved in custody battle.
New Jersey Husband and Wife divorce. Husband is ordered to pay alimony, as well as child support for Son.
Wife and teenaged Son argue. Wife is angry and drunk.
Wife allegedly beats Son … to death.
Wife is sentenced to three years’ incarceration for Son’s death.
The trial court suspends Husband’s obligation to pay current alimony, but requires Husband to continue payments of arrearages into Wife’s “prison account”.
An appellate court later suspends Husband’s obligation to make payments on the arrearages, deferring payments of arrearages until Wife’s release from confinement.
The appeals court cannot not find any legal authority authorizing it to terminate Husband’s alimony obligation because of Son’s death.
But the Court invites the state legislature to address the issue by statute.
And address it the legislature eventually does.
A new New Jersey bill terminates alimony to a parent who kills a child intentionally or through abandonment or neglect.
The bill also cuts off a parent’s right of inheritance from a child the parent abandoned, abused, neglected, or endangered.
Read more in this North Jersey Crime Examiner article: No alimony for parent who kills child, panel recommends.
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