I'm at my wits end...please help :(

[KatherineB]

My guess is the first. He thinks "I have a lawyer so I'm untouchable! Durrrr!!"! Mom is going to hire a lawyer and collect data until the PPO comes in the mail. In my state, you can get up to 93 days in jail and'or a $500 fine for each violation. He's at 4 violations so far. There will be more. The plan is to let him bury himself.

Excellent! And your mother is awesome!

[Seshat]

I have a great deal of respect for defence lawyers; at least the honest ones. They have a tough job, and get a heap of crap piled on them.

Their worst clients are the Steves of the world: hire them on short notice, lie to them, then blame them when they don't 'get off'.

The clients who NEED them are .. well, us. Statistically, the chances are good that one of us on this board, perhaps more, will be accused of a crime. And this is what the defence lawyer is truly there for: to argue for the innocent.

The worst part is that the better the policing is in the city the lawyer practices in; the fewer innocents he gets as clients. He gets way more Steves.

When all of this is over, give your lawyer a tip that's enough to buy two people coffee and cake or something, and suggest she grab Steve's lawyer, and the pair of them can commiserate over having to put up with Steve's antics.

[dalesys]

A good defense lawyer is also essential for the responsibly guilty, so that they get a fair and reasonable punishment rather than being shot to doll rags by a frustrated system that hasn't been able to punish the all other perpetrators of that type.

[Jester]

I don't know that Kisa's mom's lawyer is going to commiserate....sounds to me like Steve is making his/her job ridiculously easy. The phrase "slam dunk" comes immediately to mind.

And while I'm all in favor of tipping, I'm sorry, lawyer's rates are generally very high, and I just don't see tipping them money. Baking them a cake or buying them a drink, sure. Tipping them cash? Might not even go over all that well with them. (Hard for me to say, as I've never been a lawyer, and only rarely been in a job that didn't traditionally get tipped...)

[Pixilated]

*snip* The plan is to let him bury himself.

Sounds like it's not going to take very long. I agree with the others: don't bother with court; as soon as you can, report him for violating the PPO and let the cops wrestle him off to a nice jail cell.

I'm also guessing he's going to have to find himself another lawyer for his next court appearance.

Kudos to all of you for seeing this through. Hang in there!

[PepperElf]

Update:

Sounds like his lawyer is doing a lot of now... or should be.

and yeah i hope you can take stronger legal action against him.

[fireheart]

My guess is the first. He thinks "I have a lawyer so I'm untouchable! Durrrr!!"! Mom is going to hire a lawyer and collect data until the PPO comes in the mail. In my state, you can get up to 93 days in jail and'or a $500 fine for each violation. He's at 4 violations so far. There will be more. The plan is to let him bury himself.

So for the pricey sum of two grand and up to at least a year in jail so far....

Keep this up and he won't have a problem paying for his lawyer lol.

[Jester]

I would like to remind people that the potential fines and jail time for this guy are just that: potential. For each violation, he faces UP TO a $500 dollar fine and/or UP TO 93 days in jail. Which means he could get the max fine, he could get the max jail time, he could get both, he could get some lesser combination of either, or he could get....nothing. I'm not a lawyer, and laws vary from place to place, but GENERALLY SPEAKING, when someone violates a restraining order, after the cops are called, at some point the offender goes before the judge who issued the order, and the judge decides first if the offender violated the order, secondly how serious the offense was, and finally what the punishment for said violation(s) will be. Sadly, it is often a stern talking to, to the effect of, "We're serious this time...don't do this again!"

So while at the moment Steve faces UP TO 372 days in jail and/or UP TO $2,000 in fines for his current behavior, there is zero guarantee that this is what he will get.

Okay, that's enough of me being the Voice of Reason. It's clearly time for me to have another beer.

[BroSCFischer]

He's at 4 violations so far. There will be more. The plan is to let him bury himself.

I recommend that your mom, and whoever else is covered by the PPO, start calling the police NOW.

#1) Letting him "bury himself" might sound like a good idea, until the judge asks you why you waited so long to report the violation. I'm not sure waiting for the paperwork will be considered as an excuse, and it might allow him to get away with a warning (as Jester has already suggested).

#2) I would say top priority is letting him know you mean business, having the police drop by (to warn him off or arrest him) would be a pretty quick way to do so.

#3) The longer you wait the more bold he may become, which might put you in further danger. He might stop texting/calling and may start driving by/trespassing.

As long as he is violating a PPO, call the police for EACH violation. Don't let them accumulate, because it might backfire on you.

SC

[Jester]

What Bro said. He's right. Listen to him.

[Seshat]

Backing up both Bro and Jester.

[Mikkel]

Backing up both Bro and Jester.

Waiting could easily backfire. It's better to call authorities every time he trespasses.

[Caffienated_Caramel]

Is there a line somewhere I can get in? I want to have a crack at him.

I do agree, don't wait anymore.

[Seshat]

Is there a line somewhere I can get in? I want to have a crack at him.

Right behind Jester.

I'm not healthy enough to have a crack at him, so I'll be holding Jester's coat. And hat. We can't have any of Jester's hats getting damaged, can we?

[Pixilated]

Very good points here. I retract my original comment and back up these guys: start calling now. It's likely to make more of an impression if it's officially noted that he didn't even wait 24 hours after the PPO was granted to violate it.