Silicon Valley's Domestic Violence Epidemic

Step inside a divorce court south of the San Francisco Bay these days and one would think tech and social media pioneers are the most violent folks in the world. 

Court dockets show that where police used to employ a 'cool down' period, the involvement of family court judges, and over $1 billion dollars in state and federal funding is all the incentive a  few unscrupulous lawyers, and less then ethical judges,  need to place someone under a DVRO. 

Once you are under a DVRO you lose your right to own guns, your right to work with children, and your right to work with or adopt pets.

A finding of domestic violence in a divorce case ( FC 3944), can be the kiss of death where property and support issues are concerned, making violence the perfect incentive to attract shark lawyers. 

An audit of case files show DVROs issued for any length of time,  one year to a permanent one, Judges conduct in issuing these orders is also being called into question. 

Santa Clara County Judge Clark issued a 50 year restraining order against one father, preventing him from being in his children's lives completely. 

Judge Stuart Scott gave the most DVs , including DV to a mom who tried to visit her daughter at school, and a dad who tried to go to his daughter's birthday party. 

Judge Takaichi  gave a father convicted of felony DV , and child abuse, full legal and physical custody , ignoring the dad's  felony convictions , merely based on the questionable recommendation  of Ms. Fleming in Family Court Services. 

Judge Towery is known as the DV reverse engineer, noting he has awarded restraining orders to lawyers giving kickbacks to Towery's former firm, Hoge Fenton. 

Lawyers including Lynne Yates Carter, Heather Allan, Bradford Baugh, Richard Roggia, Michael Reedy, Donelle Morgan, Nat Hales, and James Mc Manis have been using the courts to draft out divorce cases, simply to hide domestic violence and protect abusers.

In Contra Costa, Steven Moawad , turned Chief Trial Counsel of the State Bar, reportedly failed to protect victims of domestic violence, especially in cases involving other races, where Moawad was overheard telling racist and sexist jokes while working in the DA's office. 

In Santa Clara county, the DAs are so entrenched with their own affairs, that they fail victims over and over. Now the former spouses, girlfriends and boyfriends of prosecutors are speaking up and revealing how many of the employees  in the county are using the courts to advance false DV claims, with the help of Jeff Rosen and his deputy DAs. 

Kasey Halcon, of Victims Services, is aware the DA's office is failing victims, but claims her hands are tied. Halcon is part of an office , where supervisors have engaged in improper relationships  with staffers, that has caused the break up of marriages and real violence to be just covered up. 

In a recent DV meeting a young woman stood up and told how her daughter was taken from her by Judge Takaichi, who ignored her husband's criminal DV history Following her comments, a member for Siliocn Valley's Law Foundation noted the foundation, funded with county , state and federal grants, noted the foundation had sent five lawyers to the boarder to help with the legal crisis impacting the separating of families of illegal citizens. 

When Judge Clark asked if any children the lawyers from the foundation  were going to help were county residents, there was silence, and all eyes turned to the mom who had not seen her daughter since January, after Judge Takaichi sent to the young girl to live with an abusive father, ignoring the signs of domestic violence, which has become a regular pattern and practice in Siliocn Valley's family and criminal courts.

Read here for how the DA in Santa Clara County chooses to prosecute , or not , where domestic violence is concerned.

See DDA Cindy Hendrickson's internal memo on former 49er Ray McDonald.