In representing both fathers and mothers in divorces and child custody cases I have noticed that most parents will put aside their differences when it comes to the children and do what is best for the children, - but that is not always the case. Sometimes the children are used as a weapon to gain an advantage in court. The advantage that a parent may be attempting to gain can be economic - like getting more child support than is fair, or getting an unfair division of the marital property. The motive can be revenge, turning the children against the other parent, gaining custody and just getting more time with the children. The motive is sometimes just plain hate.

Unfortunately, the judicial system inadvertently gives an advantage to women over men who are willing to lie. There are several reasons this occurs. Here in El Paso County, if a woman claims that she has been a victim of violence there is virtually no screening process to see if her claim is true. The El Paso County Attorney will accept virtually every case presented by a woman for prosecution and file a lawsuit against her husband or boyfriend for a protective order. The woman will incur no attorney's fees while the man will have to pay his attorney to defend himself against false charges. Even if he wins he is not entitled to recover his attorney’s fees. Even if the only evidence of violence is the word of the woman the judge often is concerned that if they do not issue a protective order and violence occurs in the future their job could be in jeopardy. Judge's will often err in favor of a issuing a protective order against a man, even though the consequences can be devastating. At the same time the woman can make a false criminal complaint claiming she has suffered a violent attack. The El Paso Police Department has a policy that they must arrest someone -even if there is no visible evidence of injury? - and guess who is going to get arrested? If the case is accepted by the District Attorney's office - which virtually all of them are accepted for prosecution, again the woman has a free attorney prosecuting a false case against the man and he will have to hire an attorney to defend himself in that case. I am unaware of the El Paso District Attorney ever filing charges against a woman for making a false claim against a man for assault/family violence, so there is simply no penalty for making false charges and giving false testimony in court.

Another tool to gain an unfair advantage is to falsely accuse a man of sexual assault of the children. Naturally, no judge wants to take a risk that a sex offender is around children and will often issue an order on patently false testimony. Suddenly a good father is found defending himself against horrific charges of misconduct and can’t see his children. Again, I have seen this done over and over and never have I seen a judge punish a woman who made a false claim.

Next a woman can check into a battered woman’s shelter, claim poverty and blame her poverty on her husband and will be represented in the divorce or child custody battle with a free lawyer. Since she doesn’t have to pay her lawyer she can be very demanding, not settle anything and demand a trial. The man, again must hire a lawyer and go through an entire trial - at great expense. The cost of the system itself is a barrier to justice that takes away father’s rights regularly.

There are no shortcuts to fighting this type of abuse of the system, but the court will afford an opportunity for the parties to be heard. Preparation and skill in cross examination are the keys to my success in fighting these type of cases. I aggressively defend parents who are faced with false accusations and fight to win and at the same demand their rights to their children and property. Usually, there is no way to settle these cases but they can be won. I spend my time, every day, preparing to win the best outcome for my clients.