by Jason Webber
Toledo City Paper
Sept. 30-October 13, 2009
Municipal Court Presiding Judge Timothy C. Kuhlman discusses the legal aspects of domestic violence.
Municipal Court Presiding Judge has presided over hundreds of domestic vilonce cases in his courtroom throughout the years. Toledo City Paper spoke with him about the legal side of domestic violence cases ... and why this social problem continues.
A University of Toledo Urban Affairs Center study shows that more than two-thirds of domestic violence cases get dismissed. Why is this?
Because the victims Fail to appear in court. Classically, domestic violence is a crime committed without witnesses, it usually happens behind closed doors in one's home, and the only witness the city has is the victim. If the victim is not in court, the city can't go forward. Say the cops (respond to a domestic violence call), walk into a home and arrest the man. They're there and see (the woman) has a black eye, but the man says she got drunk and fell down. The cops don't know; they weren't there. It's very difficult to pursue a case without the victim present. If they don't appear in court, most of the time (the case) gets dismissed.
Why do so many people stay in abusive relationships?
An abusive relationship is a two-part issue. You have the batterer who has a problem — the desire to control someone else. They use aU sorts of non- criminal tactics to do this — isolating the victim from family, financial abuse (taking their paycheck, not letting them work), verbal threats, intimidation. When it gets to the level of threat of harm, it becomes a crime. On the other side, you have the victim, who usually suffers from Battered Woman Syndrome. This is an entire way of thinking that doesn't allow that person to get out of the abusive relationship. It has a lot to do with low self esteem. When you talk to women with this syndrome, you hear lots of statements like "it's my fault" or "I deserved it." When you have an abusive relationship, you have two people who need to implement new ways of thinking.
Unfortunately, abuse is often generational. People who were raised in that kind of environment often think that's how you show love and the process repeats itself.
What do you think about court advocates?
Court advocacy groups often look at the courts and see a system that doesn't help a domestic violence victim in the way that we would like to see them helped. They come to us and ask "What can you do to make this better for the victim?" I say, "Nothing."
I want to be clear on what everyone's role is. What the courts can do for the victim is ensure that their rights allowing for safe access to the courts are being upheld. People have traditionally looked to judges to deal with the issue of domestic violence, but we need to look at the social network that's there to provide support to both victims of domestic violence and the abuser. The court's part is to provide a fair forum (for both parlies), but to really address this problem, we can't solely look to the criminal justice process -- the real change will only lake place out of the court system. We do what we can lo give the victim a fair opportunity to present their case. But the system is impartial and it should be. The advocates want a system that favors the victim, but the courts are not about that. Both sides must have a fair opportunity to present their case.