(Surgeon General, United States, 1992).
"One in five women victimized by their spouses or
ex-spouses report they had been victimized over and over
again by the same person." (The Basics of
Batterer Treatment, Common Purpose, Inc., Jamaica Plain, MA)
Women of all cultures, races, occupations, income
levels, and ages are battered - by husbands, boyfriends,
lovers and partners. (Surgeon General
Antonia Novello, as quoted in Domestic Violence: Battered
Women, publication of the Reference Department of the
Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, MA)
OPTIONS
A victim can make a report of assault to police in order to
have criminal charges filed. A victim may also file a civil suit
seeking damages. This is true even if the abuser is a spouse
(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION). Additionally, a
victim may file for Order
ORDERS FOR PROTECTION (OFP)
for Protection against the abuser.
An order for protection is a restraining order prohibiting
the person accused of committing abuse from continuing the
abuse. Often the Order for Protection will also include
provisions limiting or prohibiting contact with the victims.
This obviously becomes a difficult issue where minor children
are involved.
PROCESS FOR OFP
The Requirements Orders for protection can be obtained at the
county courthouse or at the county domestic abuse office in the
county where the victim lives. Orders for Protection may also be
drafted by attorneys or at battered women’s shelter or women’s
centers. For a list of centers near you,
Click Here. There is no fee for an order for protection, and
the county is obligated to provide the public with assistance in
completing the paperwork. For a court order to be granted, a
petition must be supported with evidence of the alleged abuse.
As a result, it is important to include specific facts regarding
the abuse in your affidavit. If the petition is defective or if
it fails to list sufficient allegations of abuse, the petition
may be dismissed. You may wish to consult with a lawyer before
completing your OFP petition.
A Petition for an Order for Protection may seek other relief
in addition to a restraining order. Other common requests
include seeking an order for restitution, requiring the abuser
to attend counseling, and for child support and/or spousal
maintenance.
TEMPORARY ORDERS
Once a Petition for an OFP has been filled out with a
supporting affidavit, it is presented to the signing Judge on
the same day. The signing Judge reviews the petition to
determine if the allegations of abuse are sufficient to warrant
the entry of an Temporary Order prohibiting contact between the
parties until a hearing can be held. In cases where the parties
live together, the alleged abuser may be served and required to
leave the family home with little more than the clothes on his
back.
FIRST APPEARANCE
After a Temporary Order is entered, an initial hearing will
be scheduled and held within seven (7) days. Regardless of
whether the accused person attends the court hearing, the abused
person or his or her guardian must be present. At In most
counties, the initial hearing allows the alleged abuser to
either:
- Admit to the Allegations of Abuse and allow the
restraining order to enter;
- Deny the allegations of abuse but allow the restraining
order to enter without Findings that any abuse has occurred;
- Deny the allegations and request an evidentiary hearing
( another term for a trial) on the issues.
SECOND APPEARANCE
If an evidentiary hearing is requested, it is likely to occur
within seven (7) days from the initial appearance. At the
evidentiary hearing the Petitioner proceeds first calling
witnesses and testifying regarding the allegations of abuse. It
is at the hearing that the person alleging abuse should
substantiate the abuse with medical records and police reports.
The alleged abuser has the opportunity at such a hearing to
cross examine any and all witnesses called by the Petitioner.
The alleged abuser proceeds second. He is allowed to call any
witnesses that support his contention that the alleged abuse did
not occur. The Court will usually issue an Order on the same day
that the evidentiary hearing is held. If the Petition is granted
and the Judge determines that abuse has occurred, the resulting
order will remain in effect up to one year. Despite the fact
that domestic abuse hearings are limited with regard to duration
and the evidence presented, a resulting orders can have
devastating consequences for the alleged abuser:
- Loss of Custody. Once a Court determines that abuse has
occurred, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the
abuser to seek custody of minor children. There is a
presumption under Minnesota Statutes that a person
determined to have committed an act of abuse should not be
granted custody. A subsequent court cannot overturn the
prior Court’s Finding that abuse occurred. The issue cannot
be relitigated in any other proceeding!!
- Loss of Weapons. A person who is the subject of an Order
for Protection cannot possess a weapon for any purpose, even
hunting, under the federal Brady bill. This is a
particularly stern consequence where the accused abuser is a
member of law enforcement. Obviously, without the ability to
possess a weapon, that person cannot work.
- Risk of Violation. Once an OFP has been entered, the
alleged abuser is always at risk of being charged criminally
for any reported violation, even if no abusive conduct
occurs. In many instances violations are reported for
dropping off children for visitation or other minor reasons.
ENFORCEMENT OF OFP
Enforcement of Orders For Protection Victims who have
obtained Orders for Protection expect those orders to be
enforced, regardless of when or where a violation occurs. To
address that concern, Courts throughout Minnesota are now
entering information on new Orders for Protection in a
centralized database.
Once entered into the Court OFP System, information on served
temporary orders and all permanent orders is available to court
staff anywhere in Minnesota. This transformation from manual to
automated processing of OFP records was accomplished on a county
by county basis. All counties were automated and capable of
entering orders on December 31, 1998. Only Minnesota court
personnel have access to the Court OFP system. However, selected
information from the Court OFP System is automatically passed,
on a daily basis, to another automated system called the CJIS
Hot Files which is available to criminal justice agencies
throughout Minnesota. As a result, law enforcement officers
throughout Minnesota and the nation can now access information
about an existing order through their agencies' Criminal Justice
Data Network computers and can then obtain further confirmation
of the full information contained in the order by contacting the
controlling law enforcement agency. With this information,
officers will be better able to respond to allegations of
violations, more likely to arrest suspected offenders, and
better equipped to make decisions about issuance of gun permits.
VIOLATIONS OF AN OFP
When an order for protection, either temporary or permanent,
is granted and the person prohibited from contacting the abused
attempts to violate the order, the police should be contacted
through the 911 emergency system and notified of the order. Once
the order is enforced and the alleged abuser removed, a complete
police report should be filed documenting the incident.
Violation of an order is a criminal offense for which charges
may be brought.
CHANGING AN OFP
If circumstances arise making a change in the order
necessary, the county domestic abuse office or county clerk must
be contacted to set another hearing. An appointment will be set
to request a hearing and the process is similar to that listed
above. If an extension of the protection period is needed, a
victim or guardian should contact the appropriate officials
approximately three weeks before the current order expires.
