Domestic Violence- A follow up

[william3rd]

I previously posted a thread on domestic violence characteristics because I suddenly had three DV case contacts from former clients in my area. Ironically, they all had married women from the same country although nationality would not be relevant to the underlying issue of Domestic Violence. Now the DV portions of the three cases are over and so. . . . .
   Of the three cases, one was real, one was questionable, and one was downright false.  All three women were K visas who married their US citizen petitioner. Two had children of the union. All three of the clients came in saying that the girl must have just married him for a green card. Hard to swallow that when the wife has a black eye.
   The real DV case is interesting from the standpoint that the woman really loves her husband and is utilizing family reunification services, rejected a permanent restraining order through the DV process (the DV case with temporary orders now transfers to the criminal case), and was really compliant on child visitation pending husband’s future return to the family unit. She will be eligible for VAWA processing after the criminal case concludes but wants to stay married.
   The questionable one was the most interesting of the three because the woman never showed up in court and is suddenly making noises of reconciliation. She didn’t get her husband arrested based on her complaint. Apparently her “advisors” reviewed the case and decided that she didn’t have enough to prevail- THIS TIME. Unfortunately, the client will probably go back to her; he “loves” her and it must have all been “just a misunderstanding.”  I am wondering which part of “run away quickly” he doesn’t understand. I told him that he would be back to see me again but I don’t think he believes me.
   The third case was a complete falsity, but she was not properly coached. She left the house while he was at work claiming death threats and filed for a DV protective order in another county. When we got to Court, she had counsel and the offer on the table was generous as to the child so long as she got permanent orders for herself. Counsel’s mouth dropped open when I told him that we were well aware of the his client’s need for a DV order to successfully process a VAWA claim. Apparently, he had never thought that the goal would be apparent. After a hearing on the merits, we earned a flat denial of further DV orders from the judge.  Upon the lapse of the one set of DV orders, our own custody orders went into effect. Good client control and he isn’t ever going back.

   The things to be drawn from these cases are-
   The unfortunate aspect of these cases is that there was one real one. Look at yourself first, guys, and keep your own house in order.
   And on the flip side, which deals with the other two matters, know your girl as well as you can. Case #2 was sandbagged by his girl.
   And finally- DON’T ignore the warning signs. Case #3 was full of them before the trigger was pulled.

[Kiltboy1]

Great Update William.
Me being the recipient of a false DV case(which the judge dismissed and struck from the record because my ex calena was  shown to be a complete lier), is good to know that the courts do take each case on a case by case instead of just assuming the woman is always the victim, Truth be told, my ex wife hit me in the mouth and bloodied me but i did not cry to the courts for help, in hindsite i should have, but interesting the 3 different scenarios you wrote about, You must be a damn fine lawyer my man. Keep up the good work.

KB

[blockbuster]

Kiltboy,

 Had she wanted to make life difficult and kept the DV charges,would that have affected your VISA application for your present fiance?

[william3rd]

KB- I did the same thing you did when my ex hit me-nothing. Another time I did something-called the police-and they gave her a choice between jail or a 3 day psych hold.

A DV conviction can affect you in a couple of ways. First, the conviction must be shared with an alien fiancee. Second, if a fiancee visa is subject to the waiver, the waiver cannot be approved because of the conviction. Means you have to marry abroad to bring someone.

[Kiltboy1]

Blockbuster

She could have i suppose, but since the Judge found no cause for the DV order, he threw the case out of court and struck the whole thing from my reccord, I was never arrested , in fact i was not even at home when the order was served. She never came to court either which only served to show she was crazy and a lier. So in my case it would not have affected other VISA petitions, but William is correct that had i been convicted, yes it would have been a big problem. And , William, she did call the cops on me another time, but i called 911 and told them she hit me and they gave me a choice of pressing charges or not. I did not press charges and told her to have her crap out of my house within one week, she did, we split and i divorced her sorry lying ass !

KB