Dear Thea,
I have been going to court for assault since July. I have two warrents out for him and they (police) do nothing. I asked for a restraining order but they (court) says I can’t have one.
I went to court for the third time today and still he got the trial date pushed back for another 30 days.
The man is a construction worker in town so he knows a lot of people, (good o’boy thing).
I feel like I am the one getting punished when he is the one who grabbed me.
Now, after today, I can not even go to the gas station next to my house because his so called witneses work there. And today after I walked out of the court room, he was waiting for me with his wife and the two ladies from the gas station, and they all started saying stuff to me and nobody would do anything about it. This was right outside the court room.
As I left the building they followed me out and the wife came to my car and stood behind me. And still, nothing is done.
What is wrong with the system, when a woman gets assaulted and the man gets away with everything?
Thank you for writing in. It sounds like you are in between a rock and a hard place. It almost looks like harrassment too. Especially when they are following you to your car! It sounds like you need a restraining order on all of them to me! Have you hired a lawyer or gone to one to seek legal advice? If you are a Military spouse, have you gone to Jag? You want to see an attorney to make sure that your legal rights are being protected. It could help with your frustration.
Sometimes our legal system seems very shady and when you are someone that is well known, if this man is, then it just adds to the frustration when no one is listening to you and doing anything about it. What I don’t understand is, if this man has two warrants out for him, why nothing is being done?
I’ve researched “restraining order” and found that it tells the person who may be hurting you to stop hitting, threatening, or harming you in any way. It can also order the person to stay away from you, to move out of your home, our to stop coming to your home. It can also give you temporary custody of your children, though it cannot be used only for this purpose. The person can be arrested if he/she threatens or physically hurts you, or contacts you or comes near you when the restraining order says he/she is not allowed to do so.
I have seen that sometimes, a restraining order won’t protect you. If he/she wants to hurt you, they will ignore it. What is your purpose for the restraining order? If the judge does not grant the restraining order, try to find out why. There may be an error in your papers that you can correct. If you believe that you are still in danger, you may want to call your local domestic violence program for help.
