It’s not often that a judge will deny the victim a request to lift an injunction against the man she said abused her. Nor do lawyers often–if at all–yell at their client and order them out of the courtroom. That’s usually the judge’s job. Both of those things happened this afternoon in Circuit Judge Terence Perkins’s courtroom at the Flagler County courthouse in a public example of a frequent phenomenon as victims realign with their alleged abuser, and find themselves at odds with the judicial system whose protection they’d recently sought.
This is the case of Joel Buzzard, 49, of Bunnell, and the woman who, the night of his arrest on Sept. 11, had been dating him just three months. That night the woman called 911, told the dispatcher that Buzzard had allegedly battered her and was not letting her leave the house on County Road 140. Her children, 10 and 8, were in the house. The four lived together as a family unit at the time.
When deputies made contact with the alleged victim, she told them that she and Buzzard had been bar-hopping much of the evening and that Buzzard was having fits of anger over a haunting memory. (Three of his children, who were 7, 6 and 3 at the time, were all killed in a mobile home fire in central Ohio in 2010. His teen son survived.) According to the woman, her daughter had complained of being hungry, setting Buzzard off. He yelled at them both. The woman decided to take her daughter and go out for something to eat when Buzzard, according to his arrest report, “with a closed first punched her in the face, causing a laceration to the bottom of her lip.” The woman told him he would not stop her from being a mother to her children, and that she would leave the house for good with both of them. Buzzard allegedly grabbed her “by the throat and pinned her up against the wall, preventing her from leaving after attempting to escape the residence.”
The woman broke free, gathered her children, took refuge in a bedroom and called 911. Deputies had to establish a “perimeter” around the [property when they arrived, not knowing where Buzzard was. They also had to call in Volusia County Air One, the emergency helicopter, to assist in the search, but Buzzard was found at the south end of the property and declined to provide a statement as he was booked at the county jail on three felony charges–battery by strangulation, false imprisonment and felony battery. The charges were all upgraded to felonies because of Buzzard’s prior history of domestic violence: he has four convictions for domestic battery. He was also at the center of a 2007 breaking and entering case that made it to the Ohio Supreme Court. (He lost.)
Buzzard was released on $12,500 bond, but with numerous conditions, including an electronic GPS on his ankle and a no-contact order involving the woman. A week later the State Attorney’s Office dropped two of the charges and filed the domestic battery by strangulation charge, a third-degree felony. Buzzard retained Palm Coast Attorney Josh Davis. The first pre-trial in the case is not until Wednesday.
In the meantime, Davis filed a motion to modify the no-contact order. Buzzard was seeking to have the GPS monitor–the maintenance and monthly costs of which he has to pay for–removed, and to be allowed to have contact with the woman, as long as it’s not violent.
“And would you like to carry on your relationship with him and have this no contact order changed?” Davis asked. She said yes.
Then Assistant State Attorney Tara Libby, who was opposed to the motion, questioned the woman. She asked her if she’d had any contact with Buzzard. The woman said no. Libby asked her if Buzzard drinks frequently. “Not that I’m aware of, no,” the woman said, only socially. Libby asked her where the children were during the incident. The woman said they were “in another room,” without mentioning that, according to what she had told deputies, it had been the angry interaction between Buzzard and her daughter that had triggered the incident, or that she had to take refuge with them behind a locked door. Libby did not inquire further about that. But she asked: “If Mr. Buzzard were to become violent with you again, would you call law enforcement?”
“I don’t think that would happen again,” the woman said.
“My question is, if he were to be violent with you, would you call law enforcement?” the Assistant State Attorney asked.
“Honestly? No,” came the startling answer.
Libby had no further questions. The judge did. He told the woman he’d read the arrest report, and asked if it was true that Buzzard had struck her with a closed fist.
“To be honest with you, I don’t remember we were both under the influence,” she said. The judge asked her about being strangled to the point of not being able to hear. The woman gave the same answer: she did not recall.
Perkins said the no-contact order was designed to protect her, not Buzzard. “If that history is true, why is it that you’re asking for less protection now than you were the night of the incident?” he asked her.
“Because I really don’t remember what happened that night. We’ve never had an incident like that before,” she said, adding that she’d known him for just three months.
The judge then turned to the attorneys to make their arguments. Davis said the woman under oath had sworn she felt in no danger. But Libby was concerned that between the brevity of the relationship and the woman’s own acknowledgement that she would not all police, the only option was to deny the request.
Usually, I give great weight to the testimony and the preferences of a victim and that’s the case even in allegations of violence,” Perkins said. He said he’d partially grant the request–phone and electronic contact with the woman, but no lifting of the physical no-contact order, or of the GPS monitoring. That could change in the future, but he wanted “baby steps” for now. “And let’s bear in mind in this case, as in many cases, but in this case in particular,” the judge continued, “There’s more than just the two of them involved. There’s the children, there’s law enforcement that gets called in when they have a fight. So we’re protecting those folks also.”
It was at that point that Buzzard stood up from the rear of the courtroom as if to step forward. He began to say something without being allowed by the court. Davis immediately shut him down. “Walk outside,” he ordered him. Buzzard complied. Perkins asked if Davis wanted to explain Buzzard’s reaction, which clearly did not sit well with the judge or help Buzzard’s case.
Judge, I don’t know what he’s thinking right now, I apologize for the outburst,” Davis said. “That’s clearly not professional and not something that I have instructed him to do, nor I would allow in front of this court if it were mine.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” the judge told him.
In a written statement this evening, Davis said: “Joel had his freedom taken away because of these allegations. For almost two months since his release, he’s been required to wear a GPS monitor even though he’s presumed innocent according to the Constitution. There is only one alleged victim in this case. She appeared today and testified, under oath, that she wanted the no contact order changed, thus alleviating the need for the GPS monitor. Joel was understandably upset, as was I, with the Court’s ruling. However, it is incumbent upon all of us to accept a lawful ruling (this clearly was) and maintain decorum in a court of law.”
The unspoken outcome of today’s hearing was that for all its allegations of violence and the physical effects observed, the state’s case against Buzzard essentially fell apart, since its chief witness, its only witness, told the court under oath that she did not remember what happened, and gave every indication that she was no longer interested in prosecuting her boyfriend. The question is how long the case will continue to make its way through the court before the last of the three charges is dropped.
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MeToo says
This is why you don’t move in with someone three months after meeting them. You have children to be responsible. Let them have a childhood they don’t have to RECOVER from. Geeze.
Ciara says
This man child plays the victim to often. He has abused women in many states out west and in Bucyrus, Akron and Canton Ohio. Yes his children died in a house fire but he was a monster before that happen. After his three children passed away he had another child and he tormented her mother. He didn’t get his act together after being given a second chance. He claims to find God every other year. He is a drug addict narcissist. He goes from weed, steroids, meth, crack, cocaine and alcohol. He does not are about the law. He has no respect for women. Joel is a danger to himself and everyone around him!!! He can play the victim well and persuade women that he will change but it does not last long. MANY HAVE PROTECTION ORDERS!! He left Ohio because his reputation was HORRIBLE. But it follows him, clearly. HE WILL NEVER CHANGE.
Skibum says
It is a sad reality that in many domestic violence cases such as this one clearly shows, the victim calls 911 in the heat of the moment to stop the violence against her (sometimes him), yet despite all of the effort by law enforcement and the criminal justice system to put in place a longer term solution designed to prevent further violence to the victims, way too many of them STILL desire to continue in the abusive, violent relationship. I can almost guarantee you that in this case, even though the judge has denied the attempt to quash the protective order, these two will almost certainly violate that order and continue to see each other. Her own testimony before the court shows a lack of concern for her own welfare and the safety of the child, giving the abuser exactly what he wanted all along – ongoing control and power over her. I do not believe this “relationship” will end well, but there is only so much that law enforcement and the courts can do to protect people from their own stupidity.
Jimbo99 says
Sounds like a couple of dysfunctional adults that need to move on with their lives separate from each other. There were 6 children involved in their lives at one point. Thee are not tragic accidents, rather poor decisions. And he assumption is now that a cool off period has passed, that the next binge of bar hopping (alcohol & drug abuse) won’t set off the next incident. Let’s be honest with ourselves, after reading the habitual and excuses to empower this restraining order situation, would anyone want to be around these 2 or this circus of domestic abuse & violence.
Bonnie Underwood says
Too many women enter and remain in abusive relationships because they can’t afford to pay for housing and food for their children on what they earn. When the situation becomes so intolerable that they are forced into leaving the relationship, they know they are risking homelessness for themselves and their children.
CIARA says
Trust me he is living off of her. He plays a good person in the beginning. He found her as he did all the others for a free ride. HE’S A DRUG ADDCT. HE WILL NEVER CHANGE.
Mythoughts says
The abusers always begged the victim to come back and promises never to do it again, but they do and sometimes it ends up in the victims death. So victims wise up and stay clear from the abuser especially when there are children involved. Children are being abused a long with the victim.
Once and abuser always and abusers since in most cases they themselves were abused and it is all they know and think nothing of it.
wow says
A perfect case where social services, rather than police, may be a better choice to handle the situation. Isn’t this a terrible waste of police time to have to answer domestic calls over and over that amount to nothing? These perpetrators and victims don’t need (only) arrests, they need mental health emergency calls and free up the police. Obviously a person who asks to see her abuser again is mentally ill. And someone who has three prior domestics and loses his cool when its clearly against his best interest to do so, is mentally ill.
Gunga Den says
Seriously ? This “BUZZARD” needs to fly away and join the foreign legends. Better for ALL.
ASF says
The woman can speak for herself and if she chooses to put herself in danger, that is tragic but hard to prevent, given the situation as described above.
What can be done and should be done is putting protections in place for the minor children. The situation should be monitored by Department of Family and Children’s Services. If any hint of impending danger to those children is detected, the nets should descend on both Mom and boyfriend.
Grandma K says
This is why so many women wind up dead. They don’t know when to walk away.
Ray W. says
In the old days, the Daytona office of the State Attorney’s Office assigned an investigator to take the Monday morning sworn statements from women who flooded into the office wanting the weekend charges of domestic battery dropped. The belief among prosecutors at that time was that in many cases the only thing of value that could be used as collateral for the bond was the husband’s work truck. The bond company would park the work truck in a fenced compound. I am not saying the bail bondsmen said this, but it was believed that when the husband came home from jail to find his truck gone, complete with tools, the wife would call the bondsman and ask how she could get the truck back. Somehow, the wives knew to be in the SAO office early on Monday morning to ask to file an affidavit swearing that the event did not happen the way the police officer wrote it down in the complaint affidavit. Over and over again, the Monday morning affidavit reflected that the wife started the fight. DV cases are a serious problem, but the proof, as Mr. Tristam points out, often comes from unreliable witnesses.
On a much less serious note, there was the story told by a now-deceased great friend, a Metro-Dade deputy with whom I raced motorcycles for about 20 years and served as his crew chief for 23 of his 24 starts in the Daytona 200. I heard all kinds of stories, and told more than a few of my own, when driving for hours and hours to Atlanta or Savannah or wherever the race was slated to take place. He told of a Miami Cuban husband who would pick a verbal argument with his wife every Thursday night that never escalated to physical violence. She would call 911 in the days before arrests became much more common. The responding deputies would listen to the wife’s description of the evening’s events and then tell the husband to leave for the night, all the while knowing that he had already rented a motel room for his mistress. Who knows what would have happened had a deputy told the wife what was really going on.
ASF says
Many women know that their abusers become even more dangerous if and when they try to leave. When serial abusers sense they are losing control–that’s when they REALLY lose control.
Timothy Patrick Welch says
Sad story,
Complex issues, hoping for the best.
Thanks for those who serve and protect.
Ld says
Judge made the right call. Think Gabby case…