The defendant appealed a judgment from the District Court of Wyoming convicting him of one count of assault and battery on a household member. He argued, among other things, that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the testimony of a convenience store clerk regarding statements the victim made to the clerk under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule.
The appellant-mother challenged an order from the District Court awarding child custody to appellee-father and giving her the same visitation rights that the father had when she had custody. The Supreme Court of Wyoming affirmed the order because the domestic violence suffered by the mother at the hands of her boyfriend, in front of the children, was a change in circumstances that warranted a change in custody to protect their children.
Two decisions, Hughes I (S.D. 1999) and Hughes II (S.D. 2001), arise from the termination of an elementary school guidance counselor after a third-grade student alleged sexual abuse by her father. The guidance counselor, doubting the child’s credibility, spoke directly with the child’s parents instead of reporting the allegations to school authorities or child protective services. The guidance counselor later admitted this during an investigation in which the father was charged with abusing another child.
In the case Leonard v. Commonwealth, 296 Va. 479 (2018), a transgender inmate was seeking a name change. Inmates seeking a name change must establish good cause, which then permits the court to make a merits-based decision at a hearing. If an applicant alleges sufficient facts, taken as true, then the court must find good cause. The applicant stated that she was transgender and that a name change would psychologically benefit her. The lower court denied her application without scheduling a hearing for lack of good cause.
In the case Nguyen v. Khiem Bui, a woman sought an order of protection under the Family Violence Protection Act (FVPA) against someone who had sexually assaulted her as a child. A judge initially denied the request, stating that she failed to show that she was in imminent danger.
In 2011, a man broke into the victim's home, stole money, and then raped her. She was transported to a hospital after the incident, where a rape kit was performed. Oscar Ingraham was subsequently convicted of the rape, armed robbery, and burglary, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Oscar applied for an extension to appeal his convictions and sentence. He argued that there was insufficient evidence to convict him, and that the judge failed to explain the significance of the DNA evidence to the jury.
In re the Marriage of Skains involved a dispute over child custody and parenting time following a dissolution of marriage between the petitioner and the respondent, who had three minor children. After the parties initially agreed to a custody evaluator’s recommendation for joint legal custody, the respondent obtained a protection order against the petitioner after an incident of domestic violence. The order prohibited the petitioner from contacting one child.
