posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 19
To qualify for a Civil Protection Order, the victim must be a family or household member of the abuser. “Family or household member” means any of the following:
(a) Any of the following who is residing with or has resided with the abuser.
(i) A spouse, a person living as a spouse, or a former spouse of the abuser.
(ii) A parent or a child of the abuser, or another person related by marriage or blood to the abuser.
(iii) A parent or a child of a spouse, person living as a spouse, or former spouse of the abuser, or another person related by blood or marriage to a spouse, person living as a spouse, or former spouse of the abuser.
(b) The natural parent of any child of whom the abuser is the other natural parent or is the putative other natural parent.
“Person living as a spouse” means a person who is living or has lived with the abuser in a common law marital relationship, who otherwise is cohabiting with the abuser, or who otherwise has cohabited with the abuser within five years prior to the date of the alleged occurrence of the act in question.
posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 19
The victim must file a Petition for a Civil Protection Order (CPO), along with other required documents. The Summit County Domestic Relations Court will hold an emergency hearing the same day the Petition is filed to determine whether to grant a temporary CPO. The court will then schedule a regular hearing and the abuser will then be served with papers. At the regular hearing, the court will decide whether to grant a CPO that is valid for up to five years.
posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 19
The court can order all of the following through a Civil Protection Order:
(a) Direct the abuser to refrain from abusing or from committing sexually oriented offenses against the victim;
(b) Grant possession of the residence to the victim by ordering the abuser to vacate the premises;
(c) Temporarily allocate parental rights and responsibilities for the children;
(d) Require the abuser to maintain support of the victim;
(e) Require the abuser and/or victim to seek counseling;
(f) Require the abuser to refrain from entering the residence, school, business, or place of employment of the victim;
(g) Grant other relief that the court considers equitable and fair, including, but not limited to, ordering the abuser to permit the use of a motor vehicle by the victim and apportioning household and family personal property.
posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 19
Yes. Either the victim or the abuser can ask the court to modify or terminate the Civil Protection Order (CPO). That person has the burden of proving to the court that modification or termination of the CPO is appropriate because either the CPO is no longer needed or because the terms of the CPO are no longer appropriate.
In considering whether to modify or terminate a CPO, the court is to consider all relevant factors, including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) Whether the victim consents to modification or termination of the CPO;
(ii) Whether the victim fears the abuser;
(iii) The current nature of the relationship between the victim and the abuser;
(iv) The circumstances of the victim and abuser, including the relative proximity of the victim’s and abuser’s workplaces and residences and whether the victim and abuser have minor children together;
(v) Whether the abuser has complied with the terms and conditions of the CPO;
(vi) Whether the abuser has a continuing involvement with illegal drugs or alcohol;
(vii) Whether the abuser has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense of violence since the issuance of the CPO;
(viii) Whether any other protection orders, consent agreements, restraining orders, or no contact orders have been issued against the abuser;
(ix) Whether the abuser has participated in any domestic violence treatment, intervention program, or other counseling addressing domestic violence and whether the abuser has completed the treatment, program, or counseling;
(x) The time that has elapsed since the CPO was issued;
(xi) The age and health of the abuser;
(xii) When the last incident of abuse, threat of harm, or commission of a sexually oriented offense occurred or other relevant information concerning the safety and protection of the victim or other protected parties.
posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 19
Yes. A copy of any Civil Protection Order (CPO) that is issued by the court will be provided to all law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction to enforce the CPO, which the agencies are required to maintain in an index for CPOs. In addition, the victim may submit a CPO to a local law enforcement agency for registration.
posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 19
If the abuser fails to follow the terms of your Civil Protection Order (CPO), you should notify your local law enforcement agency immediately. Ohio law requires all law enforcement agencies to enforce a CPO in accordance with its terms, including removing the abuser from the premises, if appropriate. An abuser who violates the terms of your CPO can then be subject to criminal prosecution and/or punishment for contempt of court.
posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 19
A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics examined how the justice system handled domestic violence. The findings show that state felony defendants charged with domestic violence were prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated at rates equal to or higher than felony defendants charged with non-domestic violence. The study compared DV and non-DV cases filed in state courts of 15 large urban counties, including Franklin County, Ohio, during May 2002. The cases were compared on 11 prosecution, conviction, and sentencing outcome measures.
Defendants charged with sexual assault had higher rates of prosecution, conviction, and felony assault conviction than non-DV defendants. Additionally, they had longer average incarceration sentences.
Defendants charged with aggravated assault had higher rates of conviction, violent felony conviction, aggravated assault conviction, and higher misdemeanor conviction than non-DV defendants.
Thus, it matters how crimes of violence are categorized when prosecution begins.
posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 19
A study on restraining orders published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002 indicates that a long-term protective order is effective, with a majority of the women who obtained permanent orders minimizing the risk of being assaulted compared to battered women without court orders.
The study of 2,691 abused women in Seattle showed that 80 percent of the women were less likely to be assaulted if they received a permanent order compared to battered women without restraining orders. The study reviewed only abuse that women reported to police. Temporary restraining orders made no difference in the risk of repeat violence, according to the report. In the study, permanent orders usually lasted up to a year while temporary orders lasted for two weeks.
According to the study, women with temporary protection orders in effect were five times more likely than women without protection orders to be psychologically abused by their partner. The conclusion of the study was that permanent, but not temporary, protection
orders are associated with a significant decrease in the risk of domestic violence against women by their partners.
About 1.5 million women in the country annually experience violence at the hands of their partners, according to JAMA, and about 20 percent of these women obtain civil protection orders.
posted by Attorney Monaco on Jul 30
To obtain a Civil Protection Order, Ohio law requires the abuser to have committed domestic violence against the victim. “Domestic violence” is defined as the occurrence of one or more of the following acts:
(a) Attempting to cause or recklessly causing bodily injury;
(b) Placing another person by the threat of force in fear of imminent serious physical harm
(c) Engaging in a pattern of conduct that knowingly causes another person to believe that the offender will cause physical harm to the other person or cause mental distress to the other person.
(d) Through the use of any electronic method of remotely transferring information, including, but not limited to, any computer, computer network, computer program, or computer system, posting a message with purpose to urge or incite another to engage in a pattern of conduct that knowingly causes another person to believe that the offender will cause physical harm to the other person or cause mental distress to the other person.
(e) With a sexual motivation, engaging in a pattern of conduct that knowingly causes another person to believe that the offender will cause physical harm to the other person or cause mental distress to the other person.
(f) Entering or remaining on the land or premises of another with purpose to commit on that land or those premises a misdemeanor, the elements of which involve causing physical harm to another person or causing another person to believe that the offender will cause physical harm to him.
(g) Committing any act with respect to a child that would result in the child being an abused child.
(h) Committing a sexually oriented offense.