Saturday, February 13, 2010

Judge John D. Moxley and Domestic Violence (Brevard County, Florida)

Great post from Randi James. I bolded some of her main points, however.

http://www.randijames.com/2010/02/brevard-county-judge-john-d-moxley-jr.html

Brevard County: Judge John D. Moxley, Jr and Domestic Violence in Florida
UPDATED!! 2/13

Pay Attention!

Is it coming together yet?

Remember when Paul Martikainen kidnapped his son during a supervised visitation? The child's mother had previously requested multiple orders of protection from this man. Guess who was on the record as a judge?

Before that, remember the SWAT team standoff in which Christopher Lynch pointed a gun at his ex-wife held her and their two kids hostage? Domestic violence charges were not prosecuted. Restraining order dismissed. You won't believe what judge was on record?

Maybe you're catching on now?

Judge's History Questioned After Stalker Murders Woman
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Eyewitness News has learned the judge who refused to give 23-year-old Alissa Blanton an injunction to protect her from her 61-year-old attacker has been accused of being easy on criminals in the past.

Blanton was targeted because she was young, beautiful and kind to the man who killed her. She asked a judge for an injunction to protect her from Roger Troy (read injunction), but Brevard County Circuit Judge John Dean Moxley didn't grant it. Troy murdered Alissa Blanton Monday at an east Orange County office complex.

Eyewitness News obtained a document from the Judicial Qualifications Commission that shows Judge Moxley is under review over a complaint made last month unrelated to the Blanton case.

Moxley is accused of, among other things, making a ruling in a case without thoroughly reviewing the case file.

Moxley has been a member of the Florida Bar Association for 41 years and has been on the bench in Brevard County for 25 years. His disciplinary record with the Florida Bar and the judicial qualifications commission is clean, but the new complaint surfaced just two weeks before Blanton was gunned down as she returned from lunch with her husband at the AT&T call center near UCF.

Just days earlier, Moxley had refused to grant Blanton a petition for an emergency injunction to keep Troy away from her and her family, even though she provided nearly 70 pages of harassing emails Troy sent her (read emails). In one of the last ones, sent January 29, Troy said he had driven past her house and thought the color of it was ugly.

It is not the first time Judge Moxley has been accused of being too soft on crime.

“I like Moxley. He knows me. I got a problem, he'll take care of it,” career criminal Steven Lunn said in May 2003.

That same month, law enforcement officers told Eyewitness News it was because Judge Moxley had a history of going easy on nonviolent criminals.

In February 2003, Eyewitness News reported how Moxley had let out violent criminal Derrick Henderson, on a signature alone, just days before he was to go to prison for six years and he disappeared.

In October 2002, Eyewitness News reported how Moxley lowered an accused child molester's bond so he could get out of jail after being accused of stalking 12- and 13-year-old girls.

Judge Moxley won't talk to Eyewitness News and won't say whether he's getting any protection right now after refusing to stop Roger Troy from leaving his Cocoa Beach condo to stalk Alissa Blanton.

Judge Moxley was most recently re-elected in 2008. His next term ends in 2015, but it’s unclear if he'll seek re-election. He makes $142,000 a year.

If you're going to investigate, don't limit it to Judge John D. Moxley, Jr. Begin with him and then open up the rest of the civil/family court files. HE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE! The fact that he has a "clean record" with the Judicial Qualifications Commissions (JQC) MEANS NOTHING. Most victims no nothing about lodging a JQC complaint. And the steps involved are very specific as you must quote the specific violation from the JQC list and provide evidence. The public at large doesn't have access to previous judicial complaints that were made with no resulting "punishment." And when the JQC does dish out "punishment" it is likely to be some sort of "public reprimand" that nobody really sees or hears about (unless it involves a prostitute). What do you expect from a group that operates in relative secrecy? Foxes guarding the henhouse.

Remember, domestic violence in the State of Florida is at an all time high. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is incompetent. And government social services organizations, in combination with the family court system, are wrought with "officials" who support biased, victim-blaming notions that continue to put women and children in danger. Report to Fail and Fail to Report. Concepts such as parental alienation refocus the crimes from the criminal back to the victim(s), absolving the criminal of any wrongdoing and placing the burden of proving innocent of false allegations, on the victim.

In another news article, Judge Lisa Munyon from the Orange County Circuit Court says,

"But when it comes right down to it, it is a piece of paper and you have to have some other mechanism to ensure that that piece of paper is obeyed."

What, exactly, should that "other mechanism" be, Judge Munyon? Should victims take the law into their own hands because of the failures of the law enforcement and judges? Are victims responsible for their own trauma and deaths? Had Alissa Blanton NOT pursued a protective order and instead purchased a gun (refuse to be a victim) and killed her stalker, she would be painted as a crazy vindictive woman who wanted to get back at someone who was flattering her. She'd be alive, but in prison.

How many must die?