In Vera V. v. Seymour S., the Appeals Court recently considered whether it was proper for a trial judge to deny a request for an extension of an ex parte abuse prevention order pursuant to G. L. c. 209A, based on the defendant ("husband") being subject to certain pretrial release conditions that had been ordered in the related criminal case and the subject of a Department of Children and Families ("DCF") investigation. The criminal case involved allegations of physical abuse of the plaintiff ("wife") by the husband while the wife was attempting to breastfeed the parties' newborn. The pretrial release conditions in that case included a "no abuse" order that could have resulted in the husband's being held without bail if he violated them.
Abuse Prevention Orders: Abuse and Substantive Dating Relationships
In a recent case, E.C.O. vs. Gregory James Compton (SJC-11259, March 13, 2013), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned a District Court Judge's extension of a G.L. c. 209A Abuse Prevention Order in favor of a 16-year-old girl whose father obtained a restraining order against a 24-year-old man, with whom the daughter was involved while she was traveling abroad. In doing so, the court shed some more light on legal standards in obtaining abuse prevention orders in general.
