Language for a DV Injunction Dismissal

[jmarshallmiami]

Florida
My wife got a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) on me to get me out of the house. Long story short: I found she was cheating on me, I told the guy's wife, she confronted him and he left (or was asked to leave) the house, and that same day my wife got a restraining order on me kicking me out of the house AND out of our co-owned business. The initial order included our kids, but the judge lifted that restriction during the hearing.

During the hearing, my wife continued to lie and claim that after I found out about her affair, I confronted her in our place of business (a children's learning center), swung at her, missed and hit the door frame. I brought the surveillance video from our office clearly showing all events that took place before and after me finding out, and EXTRA-clearly (new word) showing that no such confrontation occurred. When I brought the DVD to the hearing, my wife's attorney requested a 60-day continuance to review the video, meanwhile my attorney assured me that we would get by without the need of the video (also the Judge didn't have a way of playing the video). Her attorney started out by telling the Judge that he would like to treat me as an adverse witness. My wife stuck to her story and claimed that she was AFRAID of me. WHen my attorney asked if I had ever been violent towards her or threatening in any way, she stated "NO, except that I threw a pillow at her once (during a 10-year marriage) 4 years ago".

75 minutes later, the Judge makes the Order permanent for one year.

This restraining order is creating so many obstacles for me with regard to my children that it is extremely difficult to get anything accomplished. I can't change my son's soccer schedule to put him on a better team because I am not allowed to communicate with my (soon to be ex) wife (I filed for divorce after the hearing). The attorneys are in process of negotiating for us to communicate via OurFamilyWizard, but that is taking time and costing money.

Besides, my kids are supposed to call me nightly when they are not with me, and when they do not, I cannot call her cellphone and ask to speak to them as that would be a violation of the DVI. Sometimes I want to talk to them outside of the talking schedule that she set (8:30-9PM for a maximum of 10 minutes for both children combined).

Additionally, my wife violates the DVI all the time by being present during the exchange of children. I have both video and police reports documenting this fact.

My attorney believes that requesting a dismissal of the DVI is useless and would not be granted anyway, but she also said that if I wanted to go about requesting the dismissal on my own, she would be against it.

Can someone please direct me to, or guide me through the language that I need to put into the Motion for Dismissal to give me at least a fighting (no pun intended) chance of getting this bull**** order dismissed.

This all takes place in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Thank you all in advance for even reading this.

Cheers,
JMRF

 

[Proserpina]

If I were you, I would be following the advice of my attorney.

If you'd rather not, you need a different attorney.

 

[Silverplum]

Florida
My wife got a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) on me to get me out of the house. Long story short: I found she was cheating on me, I told the guy's wife, she confronted him and he left (or was asked to leave) the house, and that same day my wife got a restraining order on me kicking me out of the house AND out of our co-owned business. The initial order included our kids, but the judge lifted that restriction during the hearing.

During the hearing, my wife continued to lie and claim that after I found out about her affair, I confronted her in our place of business (a children's learning center), swung at her, missed and hit the door frame. I brought the surveillance video from our office clearly showing all events that took place before and after me finding out, and EXTRA-clearly (new word) showing that no such confrontation occurred. When I brought the DVD to the hearing, my wife's attorney requested a 60-day continuance to review the video, meanwhile my attorney assured me that we would get by without the need of the video (also the Judge didn't have a way of playing the video). Her attorney started out by telling the Judge that he would like to treat me as an adverse witness. My wife stuck to her story and claimed that she was AFRAID of me. WHen my attorney asked if I had ever been violent towards her or threatening in any way, she stated "NO, except that I threw a pillow at her once (during a 10-year marriage) 4 years ago".

75 minutes later, the Judge makes the Order permanent for one year.

This restraining order is creating so many obstacles for me with regard to my children that it is extremely difficult to get anything accomplished. I can't change my son's soccer schedule to put him on a better team because I am not allowed to communicate with my (soon to be ex) wife (I filed for divorce after the hearing). The attorneys are in process of negotiating for us to communicate via OurFamilyWizard, but that is taking time and costing money.

Besides, my kids are supposed to call me nightly when they are not with me, and when they do not, I cannot call her cellphone and ask to speak to them as that would be a violation of the DVI. Sometimes I want to talk to them outside of the talking schedule that she set (8:30-9PM for a maximum of 10 minutes for both children combined).

Additionally, my wife violates the DVI all the time by being present during the exchange of children. I have both video and police reports documenting this fact.

My attorney believes that requesting a dismissal of the DVI is useless and would not be granted anyway, but she also said that if I wanted to go about requesting the dismissal on my own, she would be against it.

Can someone please direct me to, or guide me through the language that I need to put into the Motion for Dismissal to give me at least a fighting (no pun intended) chance of getting this bull**** order dismissed.

This all takes place in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Thank you all in advance for even reading this.

Cheers,
JMRF

IMHO? -- FIRE your attorney. Hire a new one, after interviewing a few. Your current attorney has no...guts.

 

[jmarshallmiami]

Thanks for the advice on getting a new attorney, however, I plan on dropping counsel all together and going Pro Se, while retaining a different counsel for [when needed] assistance at hearings and depositions.

I simply cannot afford to keep counsel any longer. My wife has just retained a new attorney last week (after 6 months) that has been described as "very seasoned" and "expensive". So far that counsel has done nothing but cost me ~$2k in unnecessary fees by motioning and complaining over bull**** requiring my attorney to respond.

I want to start doing things on my own, and my first step will be to request a dismissal of the DVI.

I know most of you will say that I'm crazy to drop counsel and go Pro Se, but financially, I am unable to keep counsel, and with what I have already seen my attorney do, I feel I can handle most of the rest myself...with a little help from my friends here and elsewhere.

 

[st-kitts]

Florida
My wife stuck to her story and claimed that she was AFRAID of me. WHen my attorney asked if I had ever been violent towards her or threatening in any way, she stated "NO, except that I threw a pillow at her once (during a 10-year marriage) 4 years ago".

75 minutes later, the Judge makes the Order permanent for one year.
JMRF

Some judges operate with an abundance of caution and grant restraining orders based on the ability of one individual’s ability to articulate fear of the other which your wife was apparently able to do. At least the children are not covered, so you and your attorney did achieve something in the hearing.

Florida
This restraining order is creating so many obstacles for me with regard to my children that it is extremely difficult to get anything accomplished. I can't change my son's soccer schedule to put him on a better team because I am not allowed to communicate with my (soon to be ex) wife (I filed for divorce after the hearing).

Truthfully, given the situation you have described with the cheating wife who now has a restraining order on you, do you earnestly think that communicating with her at this point to discuss soccer or sports or school would achieve anything positive for you, or do you think it would likely stir up more conflict? I suspect the latter.

Florida
The attorneys are in process of negotiating for us to communicate via OurFamilyWizard, but that is taking time and costing money.
JMRF

This is a good idea, actually.

Florida
Besides, my kids are supposed to call me nightly when they are not with me, and when they do not, I cannot call her cellphone and ask to speak to them as that would be a violation of the DVI. Sometimes I want to talk to them outside of the talking schedule that she set (8:30-9PM for a maximum of 10 minutes for both children combined).
JMRF

Given the adversarial relationship you and your wife currently have, truthfully, nothing good from you calling her at this point. Even if the restraining order weren’t in place. Follow the order to the letter for now. A year isn’t that long in the scheme of things.

Florida
Additionally, my wife violates the DVI all the time by being present during the exchange of children. I have both video and police reports documenting this fact.

In most orders, the petitioner is not restrained and cannot be in violation of the order. Could this be grounds for you to argue the petitioner, your wife, is not fearful of you? Possibly…

Florida
My attorney believes that requesting a dismissal of the DVI is useless and would not be granted anyway, but she also said that if I wanted to go about requesting the dismissal on my own, she would be against it.
Can someone please direct me to, or guide me through the language that I need to put into the Motion for Dismissal to give me at least a fighting (no pun intended) chance of getting this bull**** order dismissed.

Your attorney knows the odds of getting this overturned better than anyone here, and she has already told you she thinks it is useless.

I simply cannot afford to keep counsel any longer. My wife has just retained a new attorney last week (after 6 months) that has been described as "very seasoned" and "expensive". So far that counsel has done nothing but cost me ~$2k in unnecessary fees by motioning and complaining over bull**** requiring my attorney to respond.
I want to start doing things on my own, and my first step will be to request a dismissal of the DVI.

I know most of you will say that I'm crazy to drop counsel and go Pro Se, but financially, I am unable to keep counsel, and with what I have already seen my attorney do, I feel I can handle most of the rest myself...with a little help from my friends here and elsewhere.

Dropping counsel and going pro se against a seasoned attorney to try to get a DVI dismissed doesn’t sound like the best strategic position available to you. I think you are underestimating the harm you can do to your situation and overestimating your own ability.

I suggest that you have a free consultation with another attorney or two to get their read on your situation before making the decision to go pro se.
Good luck.

 

[jmarshallmiami]

Had to go Pro Se

I decided today that I am going Pro Se in my divorce and domestic violence cases. Any help would be appreciated from you all.

The only reason I can give for this decision is cost. I have no more money and my credit cards are maxed out (was using them to pay for the attorney). I will more than likely be filing for personal bankruptcy once I receive the final bill from my attorney.

The latest is that opposing counsel wants to impute an income to me despite me being unemployed claiming all sorts of things including that my wife's income is limited, despite her Financial Affidavit and her testimony during her deposition claiming $0 income.

The last act that attorney will do is file a response to their Amended Petition for Dissolution.

 

[FLDad305]

If you don't mind me asking who was your Judge?

I am going through DV PO issues in Dade also. I have made mistakes but I haven't beat my wife, my infant son, and my dog like she claims. They write she is fear of her life etc etc and it is clear this PO was done to gain the upper hand in the divorce she filed the same day in which she made more malicious and untrue claims. I am hoping there lack of evidence and the testimony of our marriage counselor will be enough to show the judge that this claim was made only at the advice of her attorney and not out of actual fear of her life.

 

[Hot Topic]

If you don't mind me asking who was your Judge?

I am going through DV PO issues in Dade also. I have made mistakes but I haven't beat my wife, my infant son, and my dog like she claims. They write she is fear of her life etc etc and it is clear this PO was done to gain the upper hand in the divorce she filed the same day in which she made more malicious and untrue claims. I am hoping there lack of evidence and the testimony of our marriage counselor will be enough to show the judge that this claim was made only at the advice of her attorney and not out of actual fear of her life.

Don't assume that the judge would react to your case as he would to the original poster's.

Start your own thread instead of trying to steal attention from the original poster. It's a violation of forum rules.