Orange County's judges, attorneys and law-enforcement agencies need to change the way they handle domestic-violence cases to better protect victims from being harassed, members of a special commission recommended today.
Members of the commission — convened by Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs after a spate of deadly domestic-violence attacks late last year — called for judges to issue "no contact" orders with the victim whenever a domestic-violence suspect is released from jail before trial.
Because of problems Orange County has had with its home-confinement and GPS-monitoring system, which led to an inmate allegedly killing a witness set to testify against him, judges are now routinely releasing accused batterers on their own recognizance, said Harbor House CEO Carol Wick, a member of the commission.
"Basically, these batterers are walking away with no restrictions at all," said Wick, whose nonprofit organization operates the county's only domestic-violence shelter and prevention program.
And even in cases where there are no-contact orders, sometimes the victim's name is not listed on the order, making enforcement problematic.
Wick also noted that current Florida law doesn't allow abusers to be prosecuted for violating those no-contact orders if they're doing so while behind bars — a loophole she would like to see closed.
Another problem, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Jeff Ashton noted, is that no-contact orders aren't entered into a data base that police officers can verify when they're responding to an emergency call.
"It was a little hard for me to believe," Ashton said. "The solution is fairly simple" — by changing the way the data is entered into the system.
Among the other recommendations:
•Require more training on handling domestic-violence cases for judges, attorneys and law-enforcement officers.
•Notify criminal prosecutors when a defendant is facing a civil injunction in the case so that prosecutors can attend the hearing, gathering potentially valuable information.
•Allow victims to testify remotely so they aren't intimidated in the courtroom, and have the court set up separate waiting areas for alleged abusers and the victims who do come to court.
•Offer counseling for all children and teens exposed to domestic violence so they don't perpetuate the cycle as adults.
•Consider establishing a family court, modeled after one in Tampa, that would handle all cases involving domestic violence, divorce, child custody and child welfare. Ideally, commissioner Gerard Glynn suggested, the same judge would hear all the cases involving a single family.
The commission will meet again June 7 at 1 p.m. at the County Administration Building and is expected to issue a final report that same week.
Commissioner Anthony Davis, a pastor, urged the group to push for change quickly. "Some of these things [will] save lives," he said. "We need to move now."
ksantich@tribune.com or 407-420-5503