Civil Har RO court next week-Help Please

[bluerus]

California. The jest of the story.
Next-Door neighbor has been cursing my kids due to where we park our cars. My kids(age 12, 9 and 7) are terrified of this women, one of my children is mentally disabled(almost non-verbal, mental capacity of 3 yrs) for life (he is 7). I was given a Temp Civil Harassment RO against her. Court is next monday, 11/10/03. I have a witness to her outbursts and I have fotos of how she parks in our van and then curses at my kids and husband. I will also have my kids write letters to the judge instead of subjecting them to a courthouse. I will also take my handicapped son's diagnosis for the judge. My questions:
1. Where can I find the procedure for the hearing? I've never been thru this before...
2. What can I do or stress to the judge to make the judge put the order for 3 years so that my children can have peace. (she has stopped cursing them out after I had her served, and the police made her move her car sat night when she blocked us from parking our van with the handicapped placard).
3. Any other advice on this matter?
4. Should I reference the Welfare and Institutions code that is suppose to protect my handicapped son from this type of harassment.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Boxcarbill]

California. The jest of the story.
Next-Door neighbor has been cursing my kids due to where we park our cars. My kids(age 12, 9 and 7) are terrified of this women, one of my children is mentally disabled(almost non-verbal, mental capacity of 3 yrs) for life (he is 7). I was given a Temp Civil Harassment RO against her. Court is next monday, 11/10/03. I have a witness to her outbursts and I have fotos of how she parks in our van and then curses at my kids and husband. I will also have my kids write letters to the judge instead of subjecting them to a courthouse. I will also take my handicapped son's diagnosis for the judge. My questions:
1. Where can I find the procedure for the hearing? I've never been thru this before...
2. What can I do or stress to the judge to make the judge put the order for 3 years so that my children can have peace. (she has stopped cursing them out after I had her served, and the police made her move her car sat night when she blocked us from parking our van with the handicapped placard).
3. Any other advice on this matter?
4. Should I reference the Welfare and Institutions code that is suppose to protect my handicapped son from this type of harassment.
Thanks in advance.

CA Rules of Civil Procedure will provide you with the procedural rules. The particular courthouse may also have some local rules. Or, of course, you can just wing it. Incidentally statements made out of court, including writings, offered in court to prove the truth of the matter asserted are hearsay and are, therefore, not admissible. So unless the children's letter fall within an exception to the hearsay rule, which I seriously doubt, the letters are inadmissible. People are "subjected" to the courtroom so that their testimony can be cross-examined by opposing counsel. A letter cannot be cross-examined. So if your children have something relevant in regards to an issue in dispute in this case and their testimony is not merely redundant, they will need to testify.

Now I have a question. How does a mental disability necessitate the need for handicap parking? If handicap parking is involved in this dispute, you should be prepared to respond to questions concerning the mental handicap and physical disabilities. Three year olds with the mental, emotional and physical characteristics of a three year old routinely walk from none handicap spaces so you will need to clarify this point if it is an issue in the case and you made it an issue in your post.