Now here's a guy who might have qualified for a some kind of a "Darwin Award." The Darwin Award commemorates those who assist natural selection by removing themselves from the gene pool... Darwin Awards are given to honor those who do their best to ensure that the next generation is smarter--by one.
According to the ABA Journal, 28-year-old Paul Henry Gonzalez Jr. assaulted his 23-year-old wife Catherine after a judge ordered him to pay child support and set visitation terms. He came up behind her in a Florida judge's chambers and attached her, giving her two black eyes, broken facial bones and split lips. Catherine's lawyer restrained the man until deputies could get there. Law enforcement used a stun gun to subdue him. He is now jailed in lieu of $1 million bond on a felony battery charge.
For tips on safeguarding against domestic violence during a divorce, see these archives on Updates in Michigan Family Law.
To read the article, see Lawyer Steps In to Help Woman Attacked During Divorce Hearing in Judge’s Chambers, ABA Journal, April 19, 2011.
Tim,
I agree with your comment. Like you, I see a lot of domestic abuse, not all of it physical. Unfortunately, there are many who do not consider the damage that emotional, financial and verbal abuse does to the victims and the children. Breaking the cycle of abuse is not easy, and rough financial times makes the mission all the more difficult. Jeanne
Posted by: Jeanne M. Hannah | April 24, 2011 at 10:02 AM
If it were only this obvious all of the time. Jeanne, as you know, most forms of spousal abuse are insidious yet unprovable. The abuser simply takes an all-or-nothing approach and spends his (or her) entire being on getting a leg up on the abuse stage. Good that this idiot was charged with felony assault. But he'll be out; and probably right back at it.
Posted by: Timothy P. Flynn, Esq. | April 24, 2011 at 08:46 AM