Case Histories, Anecdotes, and War Stories 175
treated through active participation in anger management therapy
(i.e., once an abuser, always an abuser).
Here in America, about two million women are physically abused
by their spouses or mates each year. As we saw in Beverly’s sad case,
this is not an area where a leopard is likely to change his spots. Even
though the major episodes of violence may frequently be followed by
periods of remorse, where the abuser acts repentant and promises “it
will never happen again”—in reality it does happen again.
Abusers are much like alcoholics. Unless the abuser admits to
himself and others that he really does have a problem, and actively
seeks professional treatment, recurrence appears almost inevitable.
In this case, Mark’s repeated promises to change succeeded in buying
him more time—including several reconciliations and even a remar-
riage. But, as we so tragically saw in Beverly’s case, one last recon-
ciliation followed by one last incident of abuse may truly be the last
incident.
—Contributed by attorney Brad Coates, founder of Coates & FreyThe Forged P-Note
I was approaching the end of a short but extremely hostile trial.
From start to finish, both sides swore the other was lying.
One of the debts to be apportioned by the parties, a sizable
promissory note, was adamantly declared by Denise, my client,
to be a forgery. She swore that she had never agreed to sign a
promissory note for that amount—especially not one payable to
husband Henry’s girlfriend!
The judge had noted more than once on the record during
Henry’s testimony that he appeared to be lying (or if not out-
right lying, then at least avoiding answering by claiming loss of
memory).
When the judge’s decision was recited for the record, the first
issue he noted was to deny my client’s claim for alimony. This
evoked a restrained cry from Denise, and she became very agi-
tated. The next item the judge commented on was the promis-
sory note. Much to our dismay, he found it to be a valid debt of
the parties. This was simply too much for Denise! She screamed,
broke into tears, swore at the judge, disparaged the system, and
stormed out of the courtroom.