Yes, you do. Victims often assume that they have to have photos and police reports to establish domestic violence. But that is not true. Under the Alec and Lydia Act, the victim’s testimony alone can establish domestic violence. The statute says a claim is proven by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not) and that corroboration from exhibits or another witness is not required. You do not need a police report. You need your story. You likely have more information and details than you think.
How Do I Write My Narrative and Timeline?
You will need facts and dates. Write down what happened, when, and what they said. Details matter because details help the court understand what happened. If you told anyone contemporaneous with the abuse, such as a family member, a friend, or a therapist, that evidence is important. Telling someone about the abuse when it happened makes your testimony stronger.
Can I Get the Abuser’s Treatment Records?
The abuser has to waive confidentiality in order to use treatment records as evidence so you are entitled to these complete records. But you must ask for them and the way to get them is for the abuser to sign a HIPAA release that you then send to the provider.
Ask for the intake sheet, the intake notes, every session note, any testing, any evaluation, any diagnosis, and their attendance record. Those records show what the provider actually observed and whether the abuser spent those sessions minimizing what happened and whether they blame the victim.
Can I Get Records for the Abuser’s Drug and Alcohol Testing?
Every drug and alcohol test result that the court ordered is part of your court record. Positives, refusals, and missed tests all count. A pattern of missed tests is evidence by itself. These test results are usually sent to you automatically by court order but there may be more than the test results in the record so ask for the complete record. Sometimes the court requires an evaluation and that is important to obtain.
Should I Submit Prior Evidence of Domestic Violence?
Yes, under the Alec and Lydia Act, the court has to consider other acts of domestic violence against anyone, even if that information has already been presented to a court, even if the domestic violence happened before your last decree, and even if it could have been raised somewhere else or sometime else but for whatever reason, it was not.
That means your whole history can be put into evidence including everything no court has ever heard. Every threatening text since the prior finding. Every violation of an order. Every motion filed to wear you down. Document all of it. Build your timeline.
Should I Submit My Medical and Mental Health Records?
Maybe. But it may not be necessary. The abuser has the burden, not the victim. The court will consider your medical or counseling records if you choose to waive your medical privilege. That choice belongs to you and nobody else. Think hard about it. Sometimes it is not worth the risk because an abuser may give that information to family and friends to try and hurt you. Or they just threaten to give it to people or the public which is also very stressful. We try to get a strict non-disclosure order that the records can only be used in the family law case but that does not always stop someone intent on inflicting pain. So, you may not trust them with your records and that is a fair call only you can make.
There is another possible path. The victim can ask their therapist for a summary instead, a summary of the trauma they have suffered as a result of the abuse. That might be an easier road for the victim so they are not retraumatized and the court will still have the information they need.
The Court Record
The Alec and Lydia Act makes it easier to make the proper court record to protect you and your children. The court is mandated to consider certain evidence and exclude certain evidence. One of the most important changes is that the world of domestic violence evidence has opened up to include past abuses, no matter that they were not raised prior to the current case. Your whole story can now be told and it matters for your child’s safety. You are not alone and we can help.
