Written Testimonial in Restraining Order Case - What does it Need?

August 1, 2013 8:27 AM

I have been asked to provide a testimonial of character to be used in a restraining order case. What sort of things are looked for in these? And are they even taken seriously, or should I consider personally appearing instead or appearing through skype?

My ex is a victim of domestic violence who has tried to break up many times, but finally got the courage to break up and stick to it. Unfortunately, this is several months after accepting an offer to rent a house that the abuser owned. Once the breakup started to stick, the abuser ramped up the frequency of attempts to get my ex back - like an extinction burst. The newest one has been to file a restraining order against my ex for violence.

I am a prior DV victim as well and would never, ever provide a testimonial against a restraining order unless I were sure it was justified. I am 100% certain this is being used as a threat to make my ex fall back in line. I have personally witnessed the abuser behaving in abusive ways and the abuser also physically stalked me personally at the beginning of their relationship.

I am 100% committed to helping my ex in this, it would be a miscarriage of justice to have it succeed. I only want to put the truth, but I am worried that since I don't know what courts want, I will leave out something important. I am also worried that courts won't take a written testimonial seriously. Normally for this situation I would be willing to fly, but it's right before my own wedding and it would be very hard for me to do so. I would love to appear via skype, but I'm not sure this is something that would be useful or accepted.

tl;dr: What do courts look for on written testimonials in restraining order cases? Is it useful, or should I do something else? And what am I not thinking of?

posted by corb to Law & Government (8 answers total)

Call the court and ask.

That's the best way. Explain that you've been asked to provide this, and that you want to do what's right.

The clerk of the court should be able to give you some guidance.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:34 AM on August 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

If this is an adversarial proceeding, which these things usually are, a written testimonial may not be admissible because the other party will be entitled to cross-examine you and they can't cross-examine a written statement.
posted by Unified Theory at 10:06 AM on August 1, 2013

There should be a legal assistance program in your area, and a DV program. They will have lots of expertise. Mostly, be honest and provide an accurate description of your ex-, and say why you think the order should not be granted. Avoid opinion, emphasize facts that can be documented. Family law judges have generally seen it all, and do not like people to waste the court's time.
posted by theora55 at 10:56 AM on August 1, 2013

Yeah, you'll want to call the court. Various courts do it differently, and the clerk is your guide through the process.

And then - be honest, unfailingly so. A couple weeks ago in some bail hearings that my colleague was doing, the release was essentially only granted due to the character witness who was forthright just about to the point of incriminating themselves - my colleague and her boss were trying very hard not to shout "shut up you idiot", but the prosecutor/Crown was convinced to agree based on it. As theora55 says, the judge has seen it all.
posted by Lemurrhea at 11:09 AM on August 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Before spending time crafting a nice document check with someone who knows - is it admissible. Unified Theory is right. In all the courts I've ever handled these things in - the rules of evidence apply and a written statement like you describe would be inadmissible hearsay.
posted by BrooksCooper at 12:39 PM on August 1, 2013

Some courts may permit testimony by phone.

Ideally your ex would have a lawyer and that lawyer could guide you. Can you help your ex find a lawyer he can afford? Or at least an organization that could give him jurisdiction-specific information?
posted by Salamandrous at 7:04 PM on August 1, 2013

The initial DVRO is usually an ex-parte temporary order, so it sounds like this is a hearing on a continuing order. You can look at this site to try and identify the laws in your state:

http://www.womenslaw.org/

and the court website may have some info.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:29 PM on August 3, 2013

(in terms of how formal of a hearing this will be)
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:08 PM on August 3, 2013