For the abused, support in the court
The Boston Globe - October 22, 2008

She held a tissue and kept her voice steady as she sat in a Cambridge courtroom, where she was trying to persuade a judge to continue the restraining order against her husband.

But when his lawyer rose and repeatedly asked her the same question, forcing her to admit that her husband had financially supported her children, she burst into tears.

"If he was a good provider, why did he drain our bank account? Why did he shut off the electricity? Why did he cut off our health insurance," she said, sobbing. "Walk in my shoes for eight years."

Minutes later, her lawyer stepped forward and asked her if she was scared.

"Very," she said, her voice shaking.

The woman, whose name is being withheld by the Globe because she fears retaliation from her husband, said she might not have shown up at all, if the Middlesex District Attorney's office had not found her a private lawyer to represent her, free of charge.

The fledgling initiative, which advocates and court officials hope will be replicated across the state, could begin to break down a major obstacle in the fight against domestic violence: Many women are too afraid to seek long-term protection from their abusers.

Across the state last year, about 27,000 victims of abuse, usually women, took out temporary restraining orders to make sure their tormentor cannot call them, visit them at work, or come to their house, but prosecutors and victim advocates estimate that only half of the people returned to extend them beyond the initial 10 days. The number has alarmed court officials and advocates, at a time when domestic violence homicides have been rising. They say that restraining orders are critical to keeping victims safe from their abusers, who are less likely to harass them if they know they will be arrested.

Victims "fear retaliation and intimidation," said Kathleen Coffey, chief justice of West Roxbury District Court. "Many times when I tell them that the [alleged perpetrator] has the right to be heard, to tell their side of the story, you can see the fear in their faces."

Now, advocates are pushing state officials to examine the problem and are pointing to the experiment started by Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone, who has asked private attorneys to represent victims in court when they extend restraining orders. For the last two months, attorneys from a Boston corporate law firm have been representing victims in court for free.

The woman who broke down in court at the Oct. 9 hearing showed up with two attorneys from Proskauser Rose. The judge agreed to keep the restraining order in place for another year.

One of the attorneys, John Wayne Pint, who usually deals with patent litigation, said he was nervous about failing his client. "It's not a situation where if we lost, the parties write a check and go about their business," he said. "There was a very real risk to the victim of continued harassment and abuse."

The woman said she would not have been able to afford her own lawyer and might not have had the courage to go to the civil proceeding without one.

"The support alone of having an attorney present to speak for me - just that support really helped," she said. "I wouldn't have been able to keep things straight without them. Having them there made me feel safe. I felt empowered. I felt a little stronger."

Leone said he thought of the idea of having pro bono attorneys represent victims about a year ago, after speaking to a victim advocate who explained why many victims do not show up at court.

When victims first file a restraining order, the target usually does not find out until after he or she has been served the order. But after 10 days, the accused has the right to go to court and tell a judge why the order should not be extended. Often, Leone said, they have attorneys and because the proceeding is in civil court, prosecutors cannot represent victims.

Most victims who rely financially on the person abusing them cannot afford attorneys. They fear they will lose, and rather than aggravate the accused, they return to the relationship, Leone said.

"That speaks to an abused [person] returning to an abusive relationship, not because they wanted to but because they needed to," he said. "Far too many women just decide, 'I'm better off just going back.' "

Eighteen attorneys from Proskauser Rose have volunteered to work on the cases. They were trained by victim advocates for six weeks during 90-minute lunch sessions. They were taught the complexities of domestic violence, why people stay in abusive relationships, and how to respond when a victim expresses misgivings about pursuing a restraining order.

Leone said he hopes to recruit more law firms to do such work. Defense attorneys say, however, that having the prosecutor's office providing this kind of assistance in a civil case is potentially unfair to the alleged abusers.

"I would hope that the court would make some lawyer or some consultation available for people who are charged with restraining orders because you want to have an even playing field," said Jeffrey A. Denner, a Boston defense lawyer. Because these are civil proceedings, the target of a restraining order is not entitled to a public defender.

Many people file such orders to gain an advantage in a divorce or custody battle, Denner said.

"I think [the fact] that a good deal of people don't return is indicative that they should not have brought it in the first place," Denner said. "If they were so afraid to come to court, one wonders why they weren't so afraid to bring it in the first place."

Through Oct. 16, there have been 24 homicides statewide related to domestic violence. Last year, there were 55, up from 19 in 2005.

Leone said the attorneys carefully review the cases, which are also examined by a detective or police officer to make sure the victims qualify for this help.

There are other psychological barriers for people considering whether to extend a restraining order, said Laura Van Zandt, executive director of Reach, a Waltham-based anti-domestic violence organization that helped train the attorneys.

"In a lot of cases you're talking about taking some action that is going to be devastating," she said. "A lot of people really struggle with: 'Wow, this is it. This is the point where I no longer have a husband, a partner, or a spouse. This is the point where I have to explain things to my kids, or my family, and my job.' There is a reckoning that happens."

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.