Domestic Abuse with Intent or with a Weapon

[Peace4all]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Iowa

My 31 year old son has this charge pending against him. His wife told him back in October that she was pregnant with another mans baby, he then moved out went to stay with his brother. She would call him and told him in her own way when he needed to drive back up to take his 2 to thier doctor appointments. He did so. She has been off her anti depressant mends since finding out she was pregnant it was found out she was supplementing with marijuana. They have had the police called on them several times for domestic disputes cause they end up yelling at each other. he went back in late January and she wanted to try thier marriage again, But my son refused and said he would get a divorce as soon as their taxes were available, this prompted another confrontation, but for some stupid reason he stayed in the apartment that night to try to come to some terms of being able to make arrangements for his 2 children. He woke up to her hitting and smacking him, clawing him, biting him and he kicked out at her trying to push her off, she got him in a bear hug and between the trying to get away and her hitting him with objects, she fractured his rib and left several bruises on him, he wanted to get out the door to get away from her. The police arrived and he was trying to call from her cell phone 911 and was so disorientated he didn't know the police were already there. they sent him to the hospital and during this time she called the domestic abuse hotline. she then fled to Illinois and filed a statement claiming he threatened her with a gun, It's all a big lie. My son has the hospital reports and pictures to prove but here in Iowa it seems like it doesn't matter because she is a woman and she is pregnant. She outweighed him by at least 60 pounds. Now the Department of Human services are involved and he is going to pre trial today. He has a lawyer provided by legal aid as we had to front 2 grand for his divorce attorney. Even tho he only pushed her in self defense it seems they are focusing on he did it because she was carrying another mans baby, when in fact my son knew when he started dateing her 7 years ago she was 6 weeks pregnant with someone else's child then too, and he claims him as his own, she often tormented my son like this going out with other men cause it was her way of punishing him for playing on world of warcraft for too long.. I know Dr Phil stuff right? but how will this effect his custody request? is there anything we an do besides be there for support. it isnt right that she should walk away after abusing the system like this..seriously!!

[Mr. Knowitall]

How does domestic violence affect a custody case? When the parents are in different states, the impact can be significant - it can be the difference between a court saying, "The baby's domicile should remain in State A" and "It's okay for mom to remain in State B and to make that the state of the child's domicile, with an appropriate long-distance parenting plan." Also, if DHS is involved, there is a protective services issue - perhaps involving the other child? Was the other child a witness to the incident? Domestic violence committed in front of a child can be a very big deal in custody matters.

When somebody is so disoriented that they don't understand that the police are present in their home, that's usually a sign of acute intoxication from drugs and/or alcohol. It also casts a huge story over that person's claimed memory of what happened leading up to that point. If he was taken to the hospital for "disorientation" there should be a medical record opining as to the cause of that mental state, perhaps with associated toxicology screenings - what were the medical findings?

[shortie]

Your question is about how it will affect his custody request, but then you said he was raising her child by another man as his own. So do they have any children together? Is he the legal father of the first child? Because he will be the legal father of this unborn child.

So how many children are involved here? When they met, she was pregnant with another man's baby. She now is pregnant again. And you state he has two children. Please clarify how many children he is the legal father of in this scenario.

[Peace4all]

No, the children were not present when it happened a neighbor who later phoned the police came over and took all three to her apartment for safety. As for the Mother, when The department of Human services received a call during this whole thing of domestic abuse they took her the mother in for a UA and she dropped dirty, The Father did not. He has Tourettes Syndrome and at the time was prescribed marinol, not sure if I spelled that correctly or not So that came up in his blood tests. As for the confused part, it was he stated cause he couldn't catch his breath, the initial xrays taken at Vets hosp didn't show anything , they documented his lacerations and abrasions all over him, and three days later he ended back up in the emergency room once the swelling went down they were able to find he had a fractured rib and this was documented as well. I went up to get him from Vets hospital and he was staying with me. So I know he didnt get into any other altercations. He is no longer taking the Marinol , at the cost of it he could only afford to take it intermittently.. again dont know if i spelled it right and is back on haldol and buspar. There are other neurological facotrs involved that could of accentuated his neurological condition to raise his anxiety level . According to the Divorce lawyer she filed on Jan 28th, the mother left state Jan 30th so this gives Iowa Jurisdiction over the custody of the children for the first 6 months?

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No he is not the legal father of the first born. He is the legal and estblished father of the 2nd and third child, She has told him he is not the father of the fourth. but a dna test will have to be done?

[shortie]

He can disestablish paternity of the fourth child as part of the divorce action.

[Peace4all]

To Clarify So I don;t confuse you, after reading the answers it seems I may. The incident happened on Jan 24th, He was sent by ambulance to the VA, where they did blood tests and xrays and documented everything they were suppose to, those blood tests showed his marinol of course. I arrived and got him, took him home, I tried to get a hold of his wife but got no answer, I left a message for her to call me. I then brought him back home ( 90 miles away) where he tried to get some rest . The next day on the 25th of Jan we had a meeting for 9 am for his divorce attorny to get out of the abusive situation, he received a call from his wife telling him that it had been reported that they were using drugs in front of the kids. So he would need to come do a UA cause she was going to drop dirty as she had smoked less than a week ago. He did willingly take a UA for them even tho he was not living at the residence of the mother and three children due to her being pregnant by another man. Since that a domestic abuse investigatory, the department of human services became involved and they are going on her word alone that he did this and even made a staement in Illinois that he intended on killing her with a gun. The gun he had purchased in November of this year, but had to turn around and take a loan out on it through a pawn shop, where we have all the recites and it was not even present nor had he ever fired it due to not being able to get ammunition, that was in the Illinois statement, But according to His criminal law attorney that was not even brought up in his charge . She will not return to be a witness to the states case., So if all of this is a made up story and going on during his divorce case how will this effect his pursuit to get full custody of his 2 children

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yea through a DNA test. I understand that this charge is serious , will all the evidence he has do anything for him?

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I since have found out that in the preliminary hearing and testimony was waived as they do not allow heresay as evidence. Next is the pretrial where his attorney presents all evidence including his hospital reports and will have summoned witness's to the event of him trying to get out of the apartment but her not letting him. Once this domestic allegation is dismissed How is this going to affect his ability to get custody of his chldren in another state and what if anything can be done to prevent her from manipulating the abuse system as she has in the past. This has cause a devistating blow to his self esteem of course and to our wallets because someone cried abuse when it did not happen, why is there not laws or penalties for people who do this?

[Mr. Knowitall]

No, the children were not present when it happened a neighbor who later phoned the police came over and took all three to her apartment for safety.

If the children were not present, how is it that they were present to be taken to a neighbor's apartment for safety after the incident. By "all three", mom and the kids? Because dad was off to the hospital. Why did mom and the kids need to be taken to safety if dad's story is true?

As for the Mother, when The department of Human services received a call during this whole thing of domestic abuse they took her the mother in for a UA and she dropped dirty, The Father did not. He has Tourettes Syndrome and at the time was prescribed marinol....

...those blood tests showed his marinol of course.

Marinol is prescription THC, so if he is taking Marinol he should be testing positive for THC. Mom's positive result - for THC?

"I can't catch my breath" and "I'm so disoriented that I can't even tell that there are police officers right here in my apartment" are not even close to being the same symtoms. In any event, I asked about the hospital's diagnosis and test results, not what happened later during the DHS investigation.

the initial xrays taken at Vets hosp didn't show anything , they documented his lacerations and abrasions all over him, and three days later he ended back up in the emergency room once the swelling went down they were able to find he had a fractured rib and this was documented as well.

His having X-rays that showed no problems, and turning up with fractured ribs three days later, makes for a pretty weak case of his having suffered fractured ribs at the hands of his ex.

According to the Divorce lawyer she filed on Jan 28th, the mother left state Jan 30th so this gives Iowa Jurisdiction over the custody of the children for the first 6 months?

The divorce was filed in Illinois? If so, jurisdiction does not appear to be an issue. If not, dad can file in Illinois and seek to have the case litigated there.

Since that a domestic abuse investigatory, the department of human services became involved and they are going on her word alone that he did this and even made a staement in Illinois that he intended on killing her with a gun. The gun he had purchased in November of this year, but had to turn around and take a loan out on it through a pawn shop, where we have all the recites and it was not even present nor had he ever fired it due to not being able to get ammunition, that was in the Illinois statement....

You don't need to own a gun or have it in your possession before you can threaten to shoot somebody. You just need to say something like, "I'm going to get my gun and kill you."

, But according to His criminal law attorney that was not even brought up in his charge.

Then if he's lucky, it won't be an issue.

She will not return to be a witness to the states case.

How do you know?

Next is the pretrial where his attorney presents all evidence including his hospital reports and will have summoned witness's to the event of him trying to get out of the apartment but her not letting him.

First, that's not what happens at a pretrial. A pretrial is a scheduling hearing.

Second, please tell us about all these people who were in the apartment with them, saw what was going on, and are going to testify about what they saw.

Once this domestic allegation is dismissed....

One bridge at a time.

[Peace4all]

If the children were not present, how is it that they were present to be taken to a neighbor's apartment for safety after the incident. By "all three", mom and the kids? Because dad was off to the hospital. Why did mom and the kids need to be taken to safety if dad's story is true?

This is what the Mother said on record, as far as How it step by step happened that is unknown as when the Father was awakened by her fists hitting him he went for the door to get out, and there were no children there. All Three meaning children. I had cleared that up, She has a older by by another man, she was 6 weeks pregnant when they started dating, She had the 1st baby boy and then she was pregnant again this time with my sons baby, she had him the 2nd one and had gotten pregnant again having the third baby boy, only 2 of which are my sons, now she is pregnant again but with another mans baby. So all three children were not in the apartment when she started hitting him.


Marinol is prescription THC, so if he is taking Marinol he should be testing positive for THC. Mom's positive result - for THC?

"I can't catch my breath" and "I'm so disoriented that I can't even tell that there are police officers right here in my apartment" are not even close to being the same symtoms. In any event, I asked about the hospital's diagnosis and test results, not what happened later during the DHS investigation.

Mom was positive for THC cause she admitted to smoking marijuana but stated it was not in front of the kids... He stated he couldnt catch his breath cause his rib injury which he did get from the struggle. I went and picked him up from the veterens hospital, and he has stayed with me since then. I am a retired nurse and he has done no activity to cause a fractured rib, there was also a open wound which was documented from his first ER visit that is right on top of where his rib is fractured from the incident, HE did not state that to the police, that was me saying he was so disorientated he didnt know the police was in the apartment. He had grabbed the cell phone from the counter as they struggled, with him going to the door and her holding him back, when he managed to get out, he was trying to dial 911 when he realized the person trying to get him to give him the phone was a police officer, he didn't know they had been called. The Hospital diagnosis were he has a fractured rib. As far as the DHS finding they weren't mentioned so Im not sure where you got that.



The divorce was filed in Illinois? If so, jurisdiction does not appear to be an issue. If not, dad can file in Illinois and seek to have the case litigated there.

Again.. NO. The attorney filed in Iowa on the 28th. She fled to Illinois and on Jan 30th filed for a protection order there. nothing more


How do you know? That she wont return to show up as a witness? It was said she had stated that to a police officer who was scheduled to testify on what was said to him from her at the time of the incident ., but at the preliminary hearing that was waived cause they don't allow here say to be admitted as evidence.



First, that's not what happens at a pretrial. A pretrial is a scheduling hearing.
then we have been misinformed,
Second, please tell us about all these people who were in the apartment with them, saw what was going on, and are going to testify about what they saw.

No body was in the apartment with them, they were across the hall in lets say apt 8 and stood there watching, My son and his future ex wife live in apt 5, he said they watched the whole thing and they are working to get them to testify on his behalf as to what happened

[Mr. Knowitall]

Your description of your friend's state of disorientation remains completely inconsistent with your suggestion that he was sober and merely couldn't catch his breath. Your story isn't getting any clearer. If there are relevant facts to share, perhaps you should have him start sharing them.

The neighbors who called the police, and who ushered the woman and kids to safety, also have x-ray eyes and could see what was happening in the apartment? Or is it a different set of neighbors who have x-ray eyes?

[Peace4all]

You are not very familiar with Tourettes Syndrome and other neurological disorders. His panic dosorder exacerbates sympathetic nervous system response and the outcome is what you know as panic attacks. One reason he is prescribed buspar. The definition and signs of a panic attack are as follows :
Panic attacks are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset[1] and of variable duration of minutes to hours. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, may reach a peak within 10 minutes, but may continue for much longer if the sufferer had the attack triggered by a situation from which they are not able to escape
signs and symptoms are :

Palpitations, and/or accelerated heart rate
Sweating
Trembling or shaking
Sensations of shortness of breath or being smothered
Feeling of choking
Chest pain or discomfort
Nausea or abdominal distress
Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
De-realization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)
Fear of losing control or going insane
Sense of impending death
Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations)
Chills or hot flashes

As far as the kids being ushered to safety by the neighbor the only conclusion that we can see is that the Mother made these arrangments before she went in and started the attack. As far as your'e claim or sarcasm or neighbors having xrays eyes, ive mentioned several times he was trying to get out the door, when such action is done usually you are at a door, which leads out to somewhere if i am not mistaken, Having a door being yanked i opened and slammed shut you get to see who is at least at the door and what they are doing, but then again, maybe im just too observant

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Back to the original question, How is this going to effect his pursuit of custody for his children?