Articles Posted in Domestic Violence

Valentines Day. A day that couples celebrate their love. Sending flowers with a card to one’s significant other is a common way of expressing that love. And to not be disappointed, people are encouraged to order their flowers as soon as possible to assure delivery by Valentine’s Day. One does so. But after the order is placed, the lovers become fighters and someone obtains a Domestic Violence Restraining Order against the other. In the meantime, the flower and card get delivered and the sender gets arrested and charged with criminal contempt. Was this a crime? That was the situation presented in the case of State v. J.T., 470 N.J. Super 106(Ch. Div. 2020) which was recently approved for publication.

In this case, the defendant had been charged with a contempt of a domestic violence TRO. The issues addressed by the Court was whether the defendant could be found to have “purposely or knowingly” violated the TRO by having initiated communication to a protected party prior to the entry and service if the TRO, and secondarily, whether a defendant was subject to a TRO has an affirmative obligation to attempt to recall or withdraw such communication. The Court found the answer to both questions to be negative and accordingly, dismissed the Contempt Complaint against the defendant.

In this matter, the parties had been in a dating relationship. The plaintiff had obtained a TRO against the defendant on January 31, 2020, which the defendant acknowledged had been served upon him on that date. However, one (1) week prior to the entry of the TRO, the defendant had ordered a floral arrangement for the plaintiff which was scheduled to be delivered to the plaintiff along with a card the day before Valentine’s Day, February 13, 2020. Although he had been served with a TRO which prohibited him from having any contact or communication with the plaintiff, the defendant did not stop, or take any action to stop, the floral delivery from occurring, nor did he inquire as to whether such delivery could be stopped. The flowers and card were in fact delivered to the plaintiff on February 13th resulting in the contempt charges being brought against the defendant.

I previously blogged about the ever expanding definition of “household member” as it relates to  who canfist-blow-power-wrestling-163431-300x200 meet the definition to be considered a “victim” under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act” (PVDA) in order to obtain a restraining order.   New Jersey courts have continued to expand the circumstances in which the PDVA can be utilized.

In a recently published decision from the Honorable Gregory L. Acquaviva, J.S.C. in Monmouth County in the matter of  S.C. v. J.D., the family court addressed the definition of a “household member” in the context of a modern, blended family.  In this case case, the parties were half-siblings who did not reside together, but who spent regular time together as part of their blended family.

The Prevention of Domestic Violence requires that certain relationships exists before the statute can apply to them.    Relevant here, “victim of domestic violence” is defined as: “any person who is 18 years of age or older . . . who has been subjected to domestic violence by . . . any other person who is a present household member or was at any time a household member.” N.J.S.A. 2C:25-19(d). The PVDA does not define “household.”

Life has taken an unexpected left turn over the course of the last few weeks. Many have become violence-300x200unemployed  Those lucky enough to be working may have received a cut in pay or be working reduced hours. Apart from the financial impact of the current pandemic there are social losses as well. Most work places are closed, forcing those still employed to work from home.  Twenty first century life is dynamic. We are not a country of couch potatoes; our kids have lessons, sports and activities. Most household have two working partners. The point is that COVID-19 has brought us closer together in close quarters for longer periods of time than usual.

Citizens are directed to shelter in place in New Jersey but, unfortunately, not everyone is safe in the household where they are to “shelter”. The “rat theory” posits that if you put too many people together in too small a space for too long a period of time, tempers are likely to combust. If your marriage was going through a difficult period before this pandemic, the stress of lost or reduced wages and close proximity may be catalyst for argument and possible violence.

If your spouse has been violent in the past or if there is pent up anger, rage or fear in your household, you certainly you need to be prepared to deal with the possibly of a violent incident. Let’s be honest: tempers are more raw when the release valves fail and now there is a far greater difficulty in finding neutral territory. You, also on edge, may have fewer coping mechanisms to deflect incoming domestic attacks.

In my last blog post I noted that, effective September 1, 2019, a number of Court Rules directly court-rules-225x300impacting upon Family Part practice had been amended. In this blog post, I will continue this discussion, summarizing some additional court rule amendments, including those which were in response to, or in clarification of, statutory changes which went into effect over the last few years.

Domestic Violence

Rule 5:7A was adopted for the purpose of implementing the provisions of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:25-17 et seq., and provided a procedure by which a victim of domestic violence may obtain both temporary and long-term relief to the extent afforded under the statute. There were six (6) subparagraphs to this Rule, designated (a) through (f). However, as part of the 2019 Amendments, these subparagraphs were reorganized “to better reflect the flow of a case through the court process”. Notwithstanding this reorganization, most of the language of these Rule provisions remained unchanged, except for three (3) specific modifications/clarifications.

DSC2330-300x200In E.S. v. C.D., FV-02-00194-19 (Ch.Div. 2018),  the family court deal with the question of whether Plaintiff was entitled to protection under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (“PDVA”), given the economic relationship between the Defendant, who was employed in Plaintiff’s household as a live-in nanny.

The Defendant had been employed as a live-in nanny by the Plaintiff for seven months, before the Plaintiff fired the Defendant for assaulting the Plaintiff’s child.   After Defendant’s employment was terminated, Defendant made numerous calls and sent threatening text messages to the Plaintiff. Defendant also threatened to lie to the child’s father in order to cause Plaintiff to lose custody of the child.

The Plaintiff sought a restraining order pursuant to the domestic violence statute based upon harassment, cyber-stalking and terroristic threats.  The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act protects from domestic violence a victis defined as “any person who is 18 years of age or older or who is an emancipated minor and who has been subjected to domestic violence by a spouse, former spouse, or any other person who is a present household member or was at any time a household member. ” N.J.S.A. 2C:25-19(d).  In order to determine if defendant qualified as a household member, the trial court considered the factors listed in Coleman v. Romano, 388 N.J. Super. 342, 351-52 (Ch.Div. 2006), which are:

In the published opinion in the matter of T.M. v. R.M.W., FV-15-0506-18, the Family Court in Ocean County addressed a domestic violence case that included some interesting facts and issues offile000799318829-300x200 first impression.

In 2017, the plaintiff filed a domestic violence complaint against the defendant based on allegations of harassment and simple assault.  On her request for a restraining order she indicated that she and the defendant had a sexual relationship over the course of eight years.  The course of their relationship was limited to sporadic, casual encounters of consensual rough sex.  The parties never held themselves out as boyfriend or girlfriend, never developed an interpersonal relationship, never had expectations as to the future of their relationship or the permanence of their relationship. On the night in question, she invited the defendant over and while they were having sex, he laughed at her, told her he hated her, and punched her in the face.  She stated that she agreed to have consensual rough sex, and that this included slapping, choking and hair pulling, but that she did not consent to being punched in the face with a closed fist.  She repeatedly brought up to defendant that he had punched, her but she said he “brushed it off”.  She admitted the parties had never verbalized what their limits were.  She testified that she feared his impulsivity, that she feared he would show up again to the store where she worked, and that she wanted “other women” protected from him.  The defendant seemed to admit to their encounter, stating that she had messaged him at his job in a bar to have sex with her. They had sex, and he admitted to hitting her with a closed fist on the jaw, but stated that it was a playful and not designed to hurt her.  When she asked him about it afterward, he told her that he had meant it playfully and would not do it again.  Defendant denied that a restraining order was necessary as he had never come to the plaintiff’s home uninvited.  He added that after their last sexual encounter, the plaintiff sent a text message to his girlfriend to tell her that he had cheated on her, which led him to go to the store where she worked to talk to her about that.  He had only ever been there before to make an actual purchase. She told him to leave and he never returned there.  The court found that the defendant, who did not minimize his actions, more credible than the plaintiff, who was inconsistent in testifying about whether she had been punched more than once, and whether there was a history of domestic violence.

The court first assessed whether the plaintiff could be considered a “victim” under the Domestic Violence Act given that the parties did not really have a “dating” relationship, as defined by Andrews v. Rutherford, 363 N.J. Super. 252, 260 (Ch.Div. 2003). The judge noted that the statute includes as a victim “any person who has been subjected to domestic violence by a person with whom the victim has had a dating relationship”, but the statute does not define “dating relationship”.  Moreover,  the statute states that its purpose is “to assure the victims of domestic violence the maximum protection from abuse the law can provide.” N.J.S.A. 2C:25-18.  The court concluded that this secret, sexual relationship was sufficient to be considered a “dating” relationship.  The  judge felt the purpose of the domestic violence statute would be thwarted when it protected plaintiffs in non-sexual dating relationships if it did not also apply to plaintiffs who engaged in relationships that were only sexual with the defendant.  The judge did not base his decision on moral judgments on plaintiff’s decisions.

Mass shootings in schools, colleges, movie theaters, churches, concerts and other public spaces have been in the news regularly, leading to disputes over gun control and issues involving4168c94f1d5117faacc4fa82b69915a3-300x200

the Second Amendment also in the news, while politicians grapple with how to respond.   It is interesting that after a mass shooting, when those who knew the shooter are interviewed, they commonly indicate that there was no way to predict that the shooter would engage in such violence.   A large portion of mass shooters, however, appear to have in their past abused and/or committed acts of violence towards women in their lives. Continue reading ›

The tragic and senseless massacre that unfolded this past Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida has left a grieving Nation searching for answers. Much of the debate focuses on the Second Amendment toconstitution-998x660-300x198 the United States Constitution which states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” History has shown that the strong language of the Second Amendment does not leave it immune from lawmakers enacting safeguards in an attempt to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands.  Continue reading ›

Most people would be shocked to find out that an individual who obtains a final restraining order against their spouse could be ordered to pay alimony to support his/her abuser. The Prevention offile000388004075-3-200x300 Domestic Violence Act (“Act”) specifically states that victims of domestic violence are entitled to financial support from their abusers. However, the Act is silent on whether a victim of domestic violence who is also the income producing spouse has to support the abuser. Continue reading ›

On January 17, 2018, the New Jersey Appellate Division decided the case of G.M. v. C.V. (A4820-15). The case involved the appeal of a May 6, 2016 order that denied the defendant’s request to vacate a final restraining order (FRO) entered in 2004. The reason for the denial that Trial Court gave was that the defendant’s motion did not include the transcript of the underlying 2004 FRO hearing. Continue reading ›