In Barbara E. v. John E. , the New York County Family Court granted Barbara a two-year order of protection as against John.
According to the decision, John had committed a number of offenses which, if prosecuted in criminal court, would have constituted assault in the third degree, harassment in the second degree, and attempted assault in the third degree.
The testimony established that John had knocked Barbara unconscious, verbally abused her on a daily basis, hit her, and, threw things at her when he was irate.
The court noted that an order of protection protecting Barbara from this tempestuous treatment was necessary as she was wheelchair bound and undergoing cancer treatments.
Yet, the court declined Barbara's request to exclude John from the family home. And that same judge issued a two-year order of protection in John's favor based upon Barbara's admission that she had slapped him.
While the Appellate Division, First Department, found that the order of protection against Barbara was appropriate given her admission, it was also of the opinion that excluding John from the family home was necessary to "eradicate the root of the family disturbance."
Try kicking that one around.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Barbara E. v. John E.