What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
I have a 5 year CPO that was issued in 2008 that covers both myself & my son as protected persons against his father. Dad violated the CPO on 5/28 by calling me (wanted my address & DS's SS to file visistation). He was (and still is) on probation at the time of that violation. I reported it to the police & they refused to press charges despite my insistence (heck, I practically begged them to enforce the order). They implied CPO Violations aren't a high priority & if they filed charges the prosecutor would dismiss them. I contacted legal aid at that time & they advised me not to file a motion to show cause at that time b/c he did not know where I was residing & they said if I filed anything it would reveal my location & open the door for him to modify the CPO.
In July he filed a motion for visitation in the county my son & I reside in but not the county that issued the CPO. He did not file a motion to modify in the county that issued the CPO first. He did not disclose the CPO or the fact that DS is a protected person to the court in his filing nor to his attorney. My attorney was able to get the motion dismissed because they did not file the required parenting preceding affidavit; otherwise the judge was prepared to hear the case despite DS being a protected person on a CPO still in effect.
On 8/07 he violated the order again by calling me. I reported it to the same police department & this time charges were filed. The pretrial was yesterday & he plead no contest to Violation of a CPO & was sentenced to 180 days suspended (no contact, obey all laws, the usual).
Should I also file a motion to show cause on these violations now? My fear is that it would put his foot in the door to try to have DS removed as a protected person & reveal my location to him (he served the visitation at a relatives address). If I do file a motion to show cause is this something I'd want a lawyer for since he has the right to an attorney? I don't want to go pro se and then him have an attorney rip me to shreds b/c they know the all the laws better than I do...
Finally, the 5/28 violation is still within the statute of limitations. The preferred action for CPO violations in Ohio is arrest &/or issuance of a warrant. If an officer does not do that they are required by the ORC to state in detail why they did not in the police report. I have a copy of the police report. It simply states "No further police action taken". I've drafted a letter to the prosecutor (explaining what happened when I reported it & that the department's actions were contrary to those that the ORC outlines) but have hesitated to send it. Should I pursue this with the prosecutor and try to get them to press charges on the first violation, or would it be a futile attempt? When there is more than one CPO Violation the charge is increased to a felony, so it is significant that there were two violations so close to each other. The only reason I can come up with that the prosecutor doesn't feel so is the reason the police gave: CPO Violations are not considered a high priority
I have a 5 year CPO that was issued in 2008 that covers both myself & my son as protected persons against his father. Dad violated the CPO on 5/28 by calling me (wanted my address & DS's SS to file visistation). He was (and still is) on probation at the time of that violation. I reported it to the police & they refused to press charges despite my insistence (heck, I practically begged them to enforce the order). They implied CPO Violations aren't a high priority & if they filed charges the prosecutor would dismiss them. I contacted legal aid at that time & they advised me not to file a motion to show cause at that time b/c he did not know where I was residing & they said if I filed anything it would reveal my location & open the door for him to modify the CPO.
In July he filed a motion for visitation in the county my son & I reside in but not the county that issued the CPO. He did not file a motion to modify in the county that issued the CPO first. He did not disclose the CPO or the fact that DS is a protected person to the court in his filing nor to his attorney. My attorney was able to get the motion dismissed because they did not file the required parenting preceding affidavit; otherwise the judge was prepared to hear the case despite DS being a protected person on a CPO still in effect.
On 8/07 he violated the order again by calling me. I reported it to the same police department & this time charges were filed. The pretrial was yesterday & he plead no contest to Violation of a CPO & was sentenced to 180 days suspended (no contact, obey all laws, the usual).
Should I also file a motion to show cause on these violations now? My fear is that it would put his foot in the door to try to have DS removed as a protected person & reveal my location to him (he served the visitation at a relatives address). If I do file a motion to show cause is this something I'd want a lawyer for since he has the right to an attorney? I don't want to go pro se and then him have an attorney rip me to shreds b/c they know the all the laws better than I do...
Finally, the 5/28 violation is still within the statute of limitations. The preferred action for CPO violations in Ohio is arrest &/or issuance of a warrant. If an officer does not do that they are required by the ORC to state in detail why they did not in the police report. I have a copy of the police report. It simply states "No further police action taken". I've drafted a letter to the prosecutor (explaining what happened when I reported it & that the department's actions were contrary to those that the ORC outlines) but have hesitated to send it. Should I pursue this with the prosecutor and try to get them to press charges on the first violation, or would it be a futile attempt? When there is more than one CPO Violation the charge is increased to a felony, so it is significant that there were two violations so close to each other. The only reason I can come up with that the prosecutor doesn't feel so is the reason the police gave: CPO Violations are not considered a high priority
