You’re in the same state as I am, and my cousin just got arrested for the same thing. Beat his GF and her kid.
Felony or misdemeanor charge?
My cousin got charged with a felony, and then the DA dropped it to a misdemeanor. A protective order was put in place automatically. But the DA made a deal with the PD that my cousin accepted. It may NOT even make it to court depending on if a plea deal is placed and is accepted.
You don’t have to answer this, but what county?
Ten years ago is too far back. Witnesses should be recent.
Terry said:
Ten years ago is too far back. Witnesses should be recent.
My abuse was ten years ago, but they gave him visitation so my daughter had to endure emotional abuse and witness a few instances of abuse against her sisters as well up until 2 years ago when he finally disowned her after she was calling him out for the things she was seeing… called CPS multiple times and nothing was ever done about it… finally had to lie and pretend she was going to Disneyland and sweet talk him to get her out of there the second she informed me he had slapped her BABY sister in the face and screamed at her after she grabbed a pair of scissors he left on the counter… And the things he said to her before he disowned her are proof enough of what cruelty he’s capable of… she was only 9 at that point.
Terry said:
Ten years ago is too far back. Witnesses should be recent.
Not if it shows a continued pattern of behavior against the same target group.
Terry said:
Ten years ago is too far back. Witnesses should be recent.
Not if it shows a continued pattern of behavior against the same target group.
The problem is the charges have been dismissed so legally there may not be a record. It depends on how long police keep complaints on file because if the charges were dismissed all they’d have is the initial police report and even then OP’s ex can still point out the DA dismissed the charges.
Terry said:
Ten years ago is too far back. Witnesses should be recent.
Not if it shows a continued pattern of behavior against the same target group.
That is character evidence. It may be prohibited depending on what she is testifying in, criminal or civil.
In either case though, it just may not be compelling. If he was an abuser a decade ago that doesn’t mean he is still one, so while it is relevant even if it is allowed it may not sway the judge.
That’s horrible that the charges were dismissed without you being informed.
Kai said:
That’s horrible that the charges were dismissed without you being informed.
It was mostly because I was just in shock when it happened… I was supposed to go the next day but I went numb and couldn’t get out of bed. The arresting officer was a friend of his… a lot of things were not looked at in my case and he definitely had people helping him. It was my fault because I didn’t have any fight left in me at that point I was just broken! I wanted to get away and never have to look him in the face again.
Talk to the DA’s office about her case as you share a child with the accused. Tell them you are willing to testify in her defense if she needs a background witness. The DA’s office will refer the offer to the wife’s lawyer.
There will be questioning from the ex’s lawyer, so be prepared. Make sure you have all the relevant evidence to present for the wife’s side for the background questions that will be used to prove you are only doing this out of revenge. There will be very hard questions. If the wife’s lawyer is good, they will object to any questions not related to the case.
Have the police reports and the dismissal of charges. Those will be your best pieces of evidence in the wife’s favor. If there was body cam footage, ask to have that released and presented. Though it being over 10 years ago, there is a very slim chance that body cams were in use.
@Uma
Thank you!
@Uma
Also any photos of injuries this monster inflicted.
Reach out to her and let her know you can be a witness and your daughter too if she’s an adult. Hopefully, she has an attorney and the attorney will probably order copies of your divorce/DV and get a declaration from you. If it goes to trial then they may subpoena you to testify at trial.
I understand you need to reach out, but I have seen it go really bad as well. Just make fully sure your X’s wife is really through with him. A former co-worker got beaten brutally by a “golden boy” from work and she was made out to be the problem at work and eventually had to quit. 6 months later, the golden boy did it to another gal at work. Girl 1 asked me to give girl 2 her new phone number; I refused as I knew girl 2 would go back to golden boy. Girl 1 convinced someone else to give girl 2 her number. Several weeks later the harassing calls to girl 1 started and girl 2 was talking trash about girl 1.
@Vey
What sort of work could this be!
I think you should reach out to his Wife first and gauge whether she would want you to testify and if so, then she can probably contact her victim-witness advocate and get your name to the prosecutor. I think being sensitive to what she wants in this instance is important. You can at least maybe be a confidant to her and help her and her daughter navigate this outside of the courtroom.
Contact the prosecutor’s office but as an ex you’re going to get hit hard when questioned if they do invite you to testify. So be mentally prepared.
Lennon said:
Contact the prosecutor’s office but as an ex you’re going to get hit hard when questioned if they do invite you to testify. So be mentally prepared.
“Hit hard” in what way? They can’t ask irrelevant questions. They would ask about abuse.
@Blake
Her abuse could be totally irrelevant. Due to the rules of evidence and such.
@Blake
That’s not all they ask; they usually ask questions about the person’s history to prove they’re a credible witness. And they’re going to assume she’s so eager to help because her own case got thrown out so this is for spite. As long as she’s mentally prepared for the possibility she’ll be fine.
@Lennon
I went through it all during the custody battle. I know how easily it can go wrong! Thank you for the warning though it’s very true. I can be a character witness and so can my whole family. So fingers crossed it works out. I’m still waiting for a call back from the DA’s office and stepmom. I also have been speaking to his mother who is trying to get custody of the children until this is all figured out.