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I've had a 6-month Anti-harassment protection order put on me (could have
been worse, as it could have been a year). The thing is, is that I was not
able to present evidence, and the petitioner lied her ass off.
Of course the magic words were used, "I am afraid he is going to hurt me".
Man, if it was that easy, I could have put a protection order on people I
was afraid of back in Junior High!
Anyways, how do I go about appealing a protection order in Washington State?
Does it involve moving the case to superior court? What forms are used in
the appeal process?
Thanks,
Stephen
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"Stephen Hyde" <swhyde_ug@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<3cKdnSEaIepKMYPdRVn-gQ@comcast.com>...
I've had a 6-month Anti-harassment protection order put on me (could have
been worse, as it could have been a year). The thing is, is that I was not
able to present evidence, and the petitioner lied her ass off.
Of course the magic words were used, "I am afraid he is going to hurt me".
Man, if it was that easy, I could have put a protection order on people I
was afraid of back in Junior High!
Anyways, how do I go about appealing a protection order in Washington State?
Does it involve moving the case to superior court? What forms are used in
the appeal process?
Thanks,
Stephen
You could start with a request for modification to the judge who
issued the order. You should be prepared to show that you do not pose
the sort of threat that caused the judge to issue the order in the
first place and that there is a good reason why you cannot live with
the order -- for example, you cannot commute to work without violating
the order.
Consider that the judge may have good reason for refusing to consider
your evidence. Anti-harassment orders (these are a Washington
specialty) require, basically, a showing by the petitioner that your
activities were unjustified and placed her in fear. The standard of
proof is just "preponderance of the evidence". If she's claimed the
required facts, and the judge believed them, nothing you could say
would change his mind.
--
Not a lawyer,
Chris Green
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"Stephen Hyde" <swhyde_ug@hotmail.com> wrote;
I've had a 6-month Anti-harassment protection order
put on me (could have been worse, as it could have been
a year). The thing is, is that I was not able to present
evidence, and the petitioner lied her ass off. Of course
the magic words were used, "I am afraid he is going to
hurt me". Man, if it was that easy, I could have put a
protection order on people I was afraid of back in Junior
High!
Anyways, how do I go about appealing a protection order in
Washington State?
Why not just allow whatever may be the remaining months to lapse as
meanwhile staying away from the petitioner whereupon the order will
expire by its terms?
By the proceeding to which you refer, the petitioner has made quite
clear that she does not want anything to do with you. Yet if you
appeal, you would be prolonging your relationship with her.
And if (for whatever reason you believed was suffient to you) you were
to appeal, are you suggesting that you also would move for interim
relief to be relieved of the restraining order's prohibitions during
the pendency of the appeal?
If not, bearing in mind the unlikelihood of the appeal being decided
in less than six months, what would be the point of appealing.
If so, however, and if in that connection one were to assume for the
sake of argument and analysis that you would move for interim relief
from the order appealed from whereupon the court were to hold a
hearing in the near furture at which, as as you put it, you could
present the "evidence" you contend (though without explanation above)
you were "not able to present" by which you claim (urge? protest?
fervently argue?) that you have only the most innocuous reasons to
insist on some sort of by you self-defined prerogative to maintain a
relationship with petitioner despite her requests (and lawsuit!) that
you stay away from her, how would you deal the the sort of "Catch-22"
scenario your insistence almost certainly will have then created --
namely, that (especially in light of your state's burden of proof
allocation for these sorts of proceedings) the more you argue you
ought be relieved from the restraint the perhaps more likely the court
would want to keept that restraint in place?
Granted that, in theory and, sometimes, in practice, the existence of
an order or protection can subject the respondent to what might in
particular cases be unfounded claims of contempt. But if that is a
possibility, if the respondent just stays away from the petitioner, as
petitioner wants, is not that sort of eventuality unlikely in terms of
probabilities?
Assuming that petitioner "lied her ass off" (or, for that matter, just
fibbed) and also that you would not "hurt" her physically, so what?
Are you suggesting that you have communicated to her (believably) that
(subject, perhaps, to genuine coincidences) you will refrain from
communicating with her and from knowingly being in her presence
(subject, of course, to genuine coincidences)? If not, are you sure
that the test for the grant of the order from which you would try to
appeal, is solely whether she proved that you would "hurt" her if the
court did not grant the order?
Note, anyway, that it is not clear whether you are asking the right
questions in any case, since your statement that you were "not able to
present evidence" does not answer the question whether the "not able"
Thing resulted from your defaulting in appearing at the hearing
compared with your having timely appeared but for some law-improper
reason having not been allowed to testify or offer other evidence you
then and there proffered. Thus, whether (assuming there is likely to
be any remedy for you at all) "appeal" is available is not suffiently
clear from your posting/query.
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ok, the whole picture here, is that my ex (the petitioner) has had her
mother threatnen to take her kids from her if she moved back in with me.
She has shown signs that she would move back in with me, except pressures
from her family have kept her from taking me back. As much as it's
important for families to stick together, at the same time, my ex's family
ripped apart another family (me, my ex-girlfriend, and her two kids, whom
aren't mine biologically), in order to keep their family together.
There are also financial issues involved too, as well as the fact that I had
threats made to me by her family, including death threats. The only thing I
was ever guilty of was not having the things everyone else had, like a car,
full-time job (although I have 2 part-time jobs and barely had any problems
supporting my ex and her kids), good credit, etc.... But me and her were
just starting out on our own for the first time in both our lives.
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"Stephen Hyde" <swhyde_ug@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:cuqdnXI2X9xiV4LdRVn-hA@comcast.com:
ok, the whole picture here, is that my ex (the petitioner) has had her
mother threatnen to take her kids from her if she moved back in with
me. She has shown signs that she would move back in with me, except
pressures from her family have kept her from taking me back. As much
as it's important for families to stick together, at the same time, my
ex's family ripped apart another family (me, my ex-girlfriend, and her
two kids, whom aren't mine biologically), in order to keep their
family together.
There are also financial issues involved too, as well as the fact that
I had threats made to me by her family, including death threats. The
only thing I was ever guilty of was not having the things everyone
else had, like a car, full-time job (although I have 2 part-time jobs
and barely had any problems supporting my ex and her kids), good
credit, etc.... But me and her were just starting out on our own for
the first time in both our lives.
Even if you still have feelings for your ex, this sounds like a situation
to run, not walk, away from. It sounds like her family will be nothing but
trouble for you, with or without the protective order. If it were me, I'd
be looking for greener pastures!
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I am in agreement with letting it expire. But if she lied and you can
prove it, you could file a criminal complaint of perjury against her.
It is unlikely that the DA will act on the complaint,(about the only
time they do is when their rat informants change their testimony on
the witness stand),but you will have laid a foundation for challenging
any continuance she may ask for. These protective orders can be a
nuisance under certain circumstances, such as if you are in possession
of a gun, you could be charged with a Federal felony. It can also
prevent you from seeking certain kinds of employment (such as police
officer, which requires you to possess a gun). These problems may be a
basis for your seeking relief.-Jitney
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On Tue, 03 Feb 2004 11:26:18 -0600, "David W." <usenet@walc.com.pluto>
wrote:
"Stephen Hyde" <swhyde_ug@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:cuqdnXI2X9xiV4LdRVn-hA@comcast.com:
Even if you still have feelings for your ex, this sounds like a situation
to run, not walk, away from. It sounds like her family will be nothing but
trouble for you, with or without the protective order. If it were me, I'd
be looking for greener pastures!
Agreed. Consider that your ex just sold you down the river due to
her mothers threats. she asked a judge, and said, under oath that you
posed a danger to her in her opinion.
How precisely could her mother "take" her children from her,
presuming she is of legal age?
As for the death threats, did you report them to the police at the
time? We're any officers summoned to a Domestic Dispute, and if so,
how did it play out? Why does she have custody of the children? By
agreement, or due to the court ruling against you. Do you have
visitation rights?
All these issues could come into play in attempting to do anything
about this order. But, again, the point is why? You might consider
that this time your ex committed perjury to get a court order, on her
mothers "preassure". Do you really want to try for her committing
perjury on child abuse or other violent crime?
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