Legal Question in Family Law in California

Domestic Violence, charges dropped?
I am currently involved in a custody dispute in San Diego. My daughter's father was recently arrested for domestic violence & vandilism against his girlfriend. The girlfriend came to me the next day to let me know what was going on and also told me that they have been involved in arguments many times where he has thrown things and punched holes in walls, all in the presence of our daughter. His girlfriend filed a temporary restraining order, which I have a copy of, but unfortunately don't have a copy of the police report, only the #. At our recent meeting for mediation, he stated that his case was dropped becuase the girlfriend recanted her story and wrote some letter saying everything she told me was a lie and she did it out of spite. Can they really drop charges based on that? What if he threatened her or somehow talked her out of it, even if it was the truth? I do think that he has a problem with anger management and don't want my daughter to have to witness any of it. If charges were dropped, is it still reasonable for me to request that he be forced to attend anger management or domestic violence classes, and only have supervised visits with our daughter until those are completed?

Asked on 4/01/08, 4:02 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Julie Page Law Office of Julie S. Page

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Re: Domestic Violence, charges dropped?

Hello, although a criminal charge may be cancelled, there are still remedies that are available to you in the family law court for your chld's protection. This matter is rather complex, I really need to have more information, before, I can give you my complete thoughts--however, from first glance, you should be concerned. We need to see the police report and get more information. Please call if we can help, vty, Julie S.Page

Answered on 4/02/08, 8:13 pm

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PATRICK MCCRARY PATRICK MCCRARY

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Re: Domestic Violence, charges dropped?

You might want to subpena the police record and file a certified copy of the restraining order with your case. The fact that it is dropped does not mean that it does not happen. An attorney could help you through the legal system and would probably pay off in the longe run. Good Luck, Pat McCrary

Answered on 4/01/08, 8:09 pm

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