Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
A state law that allows victims to easily obtain a domestic violence injunction also allows an abuser to manipulate the law and get the upper hand in a divorce or custody case.
By ANITA KUMAR
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 10, 2000
Debra Baillie had been asleep for hours when two sheriff's deputies knocked on her front door at 3:15 a.m. They showed her a 20-page court order and gave her 15 minutes to gather her belongings and leave.
She called some friends before filling a small bag with her Bible, her contact lenses and a change of underwear. Her husband, Jim, who had been sleeping on the couch, handed her $14 and his attorney's business card.
Without her knowledge, he had gone to the courthouse the day before and asked a judge to remove her from their home -- taking her away from their then-2-year-old daughter at the same time. A judge granted his request after Jim Baillie wrote that he felt threatened by her.
Even now, months later, Debra Baillie maintains she did nothing wrong. Jim Baillie disputes that, saying he was in fear of his life.
In messy divorce and child custody cases, there often are gray areas in which no one will ever know the truth because it's one person's word against another. Judges are left with the tricky task of trying to decipher what happened.
Florida law allows victims of domestic violence to easily acquire temporary court orders that could remove their partners from a shared home, prevent them from seeing their children or forbid them from contacting their spouse or significant other.
Legal experts and others involved in domestic violence cases say most of these injunctions -- in effect until a court hearing is held within 15 days -- are used by true victims and often help prevent violence, even death.
More and more, though, these injunctions are being used by the abusers themselves who have learned to manipulate the law to hurt those who need protection the most, experts say. Judges initially must take the word of the person who is seeking the court order, only later holding a followup hearing to try to sort out the allegations.
In the Baillies' case, a judge refused to grant a permanent injunction at the hearing two weeks later. As in so many other domestic violence cases, it remains unclear what really occurred in their relationship.
"I think, on every docket, you're going to see the abuse," said Ellen Ostman, a Tampa attorney who specializes in family law and helped write the legislation allowing injunctions. "As you get to know the system, you're going to be able to manipulate it."
But judges, lawyers and those who work with domestic violence victims stand firmly behind the law despite the flaws because it provides an extreme measure -- initially only allowing one side to be heard -- that grants victims relief quickly.
"I would hope that it's doing more good than bad," said Judge Timothy Peters, who serves the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit in the family division. "If we keep someone from getting killed or hurt, then it's worth it."
People who come into contact with domestic violence injunctions often are surprised at how easily a person can obtain one. And how often they are granted.
It has been that way since the Florida Legislature passed the law in 1984. Though it has been modified through the years -- to allow unmarried couples to use the system, for example -- it remains powerful.
Victims who want an injunction can go down to the courthouse and fill out forms. They don't have to have a lawyer and can even get the $50 fee waived by explaining their financial situation. Volunteers from domestic abuse shelters and other organizations often are there to assist them.
"There is some abuse (of the system), but no more abuse than anywhere else," said Linda Osmundson, director of the Center Against Spouse Abuse. "It's not a surprise that domestic violence abusers abuse the system."
Judges consider the requests the same day they are made. They're not allowed to consider anything but what the person has written on the forms.
"We give the petitioner the benefit of the doubt. We have to," said Judge John Lenderman, a Pinellas-Pasco judge in the family division. "But they could be lying. We don't know."
Judges either grant the injunction, deny it but set the case for hearing, or deny the request altogether. A hearing must be held within 15 days.
Victims could obtain court orders before the 1984 law, but it was far more time-consuming.
"There's abuse in every law. It's up to the system to work it out," said Liz Richards, Jim Baillie's attorney when he obtained the injunction, who declined to talk about the specifics of that case. "The good that it does people far outweighs the bad that it does."
Most temporary injunctions are granted because they satisfy the legal requirements, and obviously judges want to prevent any further violence.
In March 1998, Judge George Greer was criticized for denying an injunction to Helene Ball McGee, who was stabbed to death in her Dunedin home. Her husband, the man she tried but failed to get an injunction against, was charged with her murder.
At the time, Greer said he denied the petition because she did not complain about physical violence, which the law requires for a judge to issue an injunction.
Pinellas-Pasco judges say they usually receive two to three requests a day, but it could be as many as 10 to 12. In Hillsborough, Circuit Judge Greg Holder says it can be much more.
Judges and lawyers say there have been abuses of domestic violence injunctions, but those have increased as the number of cases of abuse increased and people become familiar with the legal system. Sometimes, judges say, they hear that lawyers tell their clients to get an injunction when they don't really need one.
"They're necessary, but I think they can be used terribly," said Robert Fink, Debra Baillie's attorney, who also declined to talk about the case. "People say a lot of things under oath that aren't true. There's no way to stop that."
Other times, judges say, they have seen people file injunctions just to get their partners out of the house while they clean it out or take the money.
"It certainly gives people the upper hand for 15 days to do what they want," Holder said. "They have the power. They have the control. They have access to the house, the children and the records."
Jim and Debra Baillie's marriage appeared to be troubled from the start.
The two met at church and were wed in January 1995 in St. Petersburg. Their divorce was final in July, though the two continued to live together until September, when they could afford to live apart.
St. Pete Beach police report a couple of domestic violence calls to their house, but the Baillies say there were several more.
In June 1998, Debra Baillie said her husband pushed her on a bed and kneeled on her chest while their daughter, Lauren, was in her arms. Another time, she said, he dragged her through the house when she was seven months' pregnant. Jim Baillie denies those allegations.
In January 1999, Jim Baillie said his wife threw a beer mug with water at him. She said she was frustrated and aimed for a wall. He said a piece of glass cut his head though he declined medical treatment. She was arrested, but the charge was later dropped.
"She could have killed me," he said. "She caused conflict wherever she could."
Police reports show a neighbor called 911 in January after hearing a loud argument from the Baillies' house. In May, police came out again during another argument.
Jim Baillie says he filed for divorce Jan. 25, the same day the injunction was served. Debra Baillie said he told her he saw an attorney about a divorce but did not tell her about the injunction.
Debra Baillie said she was taken aback when the deputies showed up at the house Jan. 25. She said she didn't know it was legal for her to be removed from her home without her getting a say. She stayed with a friend, with her sister and at a motel for two weeks.
"You just go into shock," she said. "I was taken out of my home, but I had done nothing wrong."
A hearing was to be held nine days after the injunction was served, but Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Irene Sullivan postponed it because Jim Baillie was between attorneys. A week later, Sullivan declined to grant a permanent injunction.
Debra Baillie said her husband -- who she claims was the real abuser in the relationship -- just wanted an upper hand in their divorce. He denies that, saying he was in fear for his life and his attorney suggested he get an injunction.
Debra Baillie says the law should be changed.
"The system needs to be reviewed," she said. "Something needs to be modified."
But legal experts say they don't know of a way to get rid of abuse of the system while also giving victims the protection they need. They have no plans to ask legislators to make any significant changes in the law.
"I'm not belittling what happened to her," said Denise Springer of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Tallahassee. "Everything needs to be tinkered with a bit, but basically the law is good. More often than not, the injunction works out like it should."
- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.