Families Now Safer from Domestic Violence

Most of the violent crime in Texas occurs between people who know one another and in many cases they know each other intimately.

Family violence disputes sometimes end in death even when victims have been granted protective orders that were supposed to keep their attackers away.

Many of those charged with family violence violate the condition of a bond or a protective order or commit misdemeanor offenses relating to the safety of the victim or the community.  Prior to last year when the violation was a misdemeanor offense judges by law had to allow offenders to post bond.

With felony offenses judges have the authority to deny bond and keep offenders in jail.  In an effort to increase the protection of family violence victims the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 3692 last year. This bill allows judges to deny bail to perpetrators of family violence under certain circumstances. 

Because the denial of bail is a constitutional issue House Bill 3692 needed the approval of Texas voters to become law.  In the November constitutional amendment election 84 percent of you voted “yes” on the amendment; the bill became law on January 1.

This amendment to the Texas Constitution will permit detention without bail in certain family violence cases including misdemeanors.

Representative Joe Straus R-San Antonio is the bill’s author and I was the Senate sponsor.  I am pleased that Texas voters agreed with Rep. Straus and me that this law needed to be passed.  Statistics certainly support our point of view.

For example in 2005 in Bexar County 587 protective orders were granted by the courts to protect victims of family violence.  In 2006 the number increased by approximately 20 percent to 729 protective orders.

In 2005 a total of 448 charges of violation of protective orders was filed against offenders with 398 of these charges filed as misdemeanor cases which means offenders were free to post bond.   In 2006 the number of charges was 439 with 379 resulting in misdemeanor cases.

Intimate partner deaths rose from 15 in 2005 to 22 in 2006 a 32 percent increase.

Putting a face to a tragic event on March 16 2006 Matthew O’Connor recklessly caused bodily injury to his wife Evairene O’Connor.  A judge issued a protective order on May 11 2006.

On July 3 Matthew O’Connor violated the protective order threatening to shoot his wife and placing a tracking device on her car.  On July 12 he was arrested and released on bond for the original assault case.  O’Connor was arrested again on August 12 and released on August 15 on bond for the Violation of Protective Order case.

Two weeks later he shot his estranged wife and then shot himself.

Had the new law been in effect the judge could have denied bail to O’Connor and kept him in jail as soon as he violated the first protective order.

I regret that the law was passed too late to save Evairene O’Connor but if it saves just one victim of domestic violence it is a bill well passed.