NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — A judge declined Wednesday to modify a protective order against an accused after finding that a weapons relinquishment form from the probation department was incomplete.
The judge also continued the matter to a later date after the alleged victim, who told the court she lives in a vehicle and has limited income, said she could not afford an independent psychiatric evaluation the judge had proposed.
The accused was ordered, as a condition of his sentence, to relinquish his weapons and file proof of that relinquishment with the court. When taking the stand, the accused claimed that he had “returned to court three days after the relinquishment order was given, presented the form to the probation office and stated that the weapons had in fact been relinquished.”
The probation department’s paperwork told a different story. Court records showed the relinquishment form on file was incomplete, and the judge stated that until the discrepancy is corrected, the court is not inclined to modify the protective order.
The prosecution separately objected to the proposed modification. The prosecution asked that the alleged victim be required to complete additional personal environment classes before any change to the order.
The alleged victim objected to that request, telling the court that she suffers from PTSD and that the subject matter covered in the classes is triggering for her. The judge offered to arrange for her to speak with a psychiatrist.
The alleged victim responded that she lives in a vehicle and that her limited income makes that difficult. The judge directed her to reach out to Orange County’s court and health care resources to find a solution.
According to a California Health Report article by Claudia Boyd-Barrett on survivors of violence, low rates of insurance acceptance among mental health providers stand as a barrier to care, with many providers in private practice no longer taking insured clients. For a victim without stable housing or steady income, an unsubsidized referral for an independent psychiatric evaluation can function less as a path to accommodation and more as an additional hurdle standing between her and a resolution of her case.
No modification to the protective order was granted at the hearing, and the matter was continued to a later date.
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