Kevin and I accompanied Sara to Juvenile and Domestic Relations court to try a petition for a permanent protective order. I had been before with Jessica, the other attorney in the Petersburg Office, so I kind of knew what to expect procedure-wise. We had a strong case with physical evidence to support the petition. For anyone who doesn't know, a protective order can be issued for family abuse, defined as: any act or threat resulting in injury or reasonable fear of injury done by a family or household member.
Sara represented the petitioner, a young wife who had been subjected to years of domestic violence through her husband taking and breaking her cell phones and keys, locking her in and out of the house, threatening and physically abusing her. After hitting her so hard he broke a bone and throwing a chair that almost hit their daughter, she finally decided to seek a protective order. With her family’s support she sought to protect herself from him. Even though the opposing counsel was quite antagonistic throughout the procedure, brusquely brushing off all offers of negotiation by Sara and trying to insinuate that our client was fabricating stories as a side effect of medications, our client kept her cool and credibility by calmly explaining she took such pain medications because of the physical abuse she suffered.
The judge granted our client a 2-year permanent protective order, but what was so hard for her was that she still loved this man who wreaked so much damage on her life. Because of such strong ties to the person who commits the abuse, family protective order cases can be some of the most emotional cases and the young woman, although relieved for her own safety was extremely apprehensive, sad, and unsure about her future. With help from CVLAS, she will be safe to raise and protect her daughter and her daughter’s future.
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