We will never know what percentage of accusation of domestic violence are false. Most of the time, there is simply an accusation without any supporting evidence - and a denial without any supporting evidence - and it is impossible to know who is telling the truth. It is what we lawyers call a party that has not proved its case. Unfortunately for many men and fathers, after tragic headlines such as the Castillo case, some judges would rather play it safe than sorry. Restraining orders and supervised visitation under such scenarios become more common, in my experience.
Accusations of domestic violence are simply too effective a tool in divorces or child custody cases for some people not to succumb to the temptation of making false or exaggerated claims when a relationship turns bad. A successful early accusation of domestic violence typically leads to the awarding of child custody. That leads to child support and often to advantages in property division. Down the road, child support awards and restraining orders can lead to contempt charges, and before long, a father's life is ruined.
Curiously, our immigration laws also provide an incentive for false claims of domestic violence: If the mother does not have a green card, she can apply for a visa based upon such accusations under the reforms occasioned by the Violence Against Women Act.
Unfortunately, many judges either naively accept the argument that women seldom lie about acts of domestic violence or they accept persecution of innocent fathers as a necessary casualty in protecting women and children. I have tried many cases where judges cut me off when I was trying to prove a mother's motivation to lie. Gruffly, the judges told me that my questions were "irrelevant" and my theories "far-fetched."
This "she would not lie" mentality is infecting our legal system to the point where domestic violence cases are about the defendants proving their innocence rather than plaintiffs meaningfully overcoming the presumption of innocence. Cases such as the Castillos' are exploited to make the situation worse.
Rinaldo Del Gallo III is a practicing family law attorney in Pittsfield, Mass., and a spokesman of the Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition. His e-mail is rdelgalloIII@aol.com.
