This story about a judge who didn’t believe that a father was a threat and denied a mother’s request to keep him away from their 9–month old son was reported in our local paper. The judge told the mother in court that he suspected she was lying.
Ten days later, the father killed the infant and himself. Now there is a public outcry over Judge Robert Lemkau’s decision.
The death of this child is a tragedy. My heart goes out to this mother who tried to protect her child from her boyfriend. It’s a shame this infant wasn’t safe from his father and that both of them died.
While this judge was certainly wrong in his assessment of whether this man was a threat to his son, the outcry over his decision and the things people are saying and doing are also inappropriate.
Picketing his courtroom and calling the judge a “baby killer” is misguided. Saying that his decision was legally wrong and calling his ruling indefensible, his opponent in the upcoming election says that he would have ruled in favor of the mother until it could be decided who was telling the truth.
Excuse me? How exactly would this judge’s opponent determine who was telling the truth?
I’ve appeared on behalf of both those bringing Protection From Abuse matters and those opposing them, and heard each party testify to competely different versions of the same incidents. If you didn’t know it, you would think that they were describing different circumstances altogether.
Don’t get me wrong. This judge made a bad decision. There is no question about that. But the problem is, do you as a judge automatically accept the testimony of someone who complains about abuse? Do you routinely grant every single allegation before you on the off chance that you might be wrong and something tragic (like in this case) might occur?
Because if you do, then there is no sense in having an initial hearing. (And in Maine, there often is no initial hearing. A person simply requests a Protection From Abuse Order, and writes out a statement alleging abuse, that is then presented to a judge.) A full hearing is then scheduled later.
But what happens when you have a full hearing and both sides are telling opposite stories? What should a judge do in that case? What do you do when you as a judge aren’t sure who is telling the truth? This can not be an easy case to decide. Make a mistake, and something horrible can happen.
And yet … I’ve seen both men and women use the system in order to obtain a Protection From Abuse Order to take advantage of the person during a divorce or separation. In other words, there are people who file these complaints just to get the upper hand in the relationship. Is that appropriate? Should judges take that into account in deciding who is telling the truth?
Being a judge is not an easy job. Again, the judge in this case made a bad decision.
As one divorce lawyer in the article noted, “Everyone lies in family court.” Judges have to figure out who is lying and who is telling the truth. My experience is that they’re usually pretty good at figuring that out.
But just like the rest of us, they sometimes make mistakes.
