Victims of domestic violence in Bibb County face the probability of being abused again, sometimes even if they’re successful in getting a restraining order, according to data analyzed by The Telegraph.
A Bibb County judge receives nearly 30 cases every week of alleged domestic violence victims asking to get a temporary protective order, which would keep their accused abuser away from them, court data shows. As of Tuesday, 321 petitions for temporary protective orders had been filed with the Bibb County Superior Court this year. While 148 of those were approved, 143 of them have been denied. Thirty of those were still pending in court and could result in a protective order being issued.
Bonnie Carlson, a law professor at Mercer University who teaches students how to defend victims through the university’s Domestic Violence Clinic, said protective order cases are short-lived in the legal system and that can make it difficult to permanently stop abuse. Law requires that a domestic violence case go to a court hearing 30 days after the petition is filed, which is not enough time to put together a case against someone, according to Carlson.
Accused abusers have to be notified that a domestic violence case was filed against them in order for a protective order to be issued by a judge, according to state law. On the day of the hearing, 30 days after the request is filed, a judge decides whether to grant the order based on the strength of the case the accuser and their attorney have built. The accused abuser doesn’t have to be in court, as long as the court confirms they were notified of the case.
In the past three years, Bibb County judges have dismissed more protective orders than they’ve approved, according to court records. Carlson says it’s common for these cases to get dropped because the alleged abuser isn’t notified or because the alleged victim doesn’t show up to court.
Carlson said the accused abuser in a domestic violence case in Georgia has to be handed documents for the case, either by their accuser or by a law enforcement officer. Because of this, the person being served papers can often just avoid them.
“If the petitioner can prove that the respondent is avoiding service — which is sort of difficult to prove — but if you can prove it, you can get it extended for another 30 days,” said Carlson. “But after that, it’s got to be dismissed.”
There are no limits to the amount of protective orders someone can file. Judges and attorneys encourage victims to try filing for an order again if they’re in significant danger and their first attempt was unsuccessful.
But protective orders are not perfect tools, and the existence of the order is “not going to stop violence,” Carlson said. Although some are grateful that their protective orders were approved, “there’s a pretty large percentage of people who get a protective order and then say there was violence committed afterward,” Carlson said.
Based on court records analyzed by The Telegraph, more than a dozen victims who filed petitions for protective orders ended up facing further potentially criminal abuse in each of the past three years. In these cases, the person accused of abuse was later charged in a separate incident of aggravated stalking, aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, family violence or murder, according to court records.
Two petitions for protective orders filed in 2021 ended in murder the following year. In February 2022, Cynthia Berry was strangled with a shoestring by her ex-boyfriend, Joey Fournier. Before her death, Berry filed a protective order against Fournier, which was active between Sept. 24, 2021, and Sept. 24, 2022, according to court records. In that order, she alleged she was subjected to violence from Fournier, saying he put her in a chokehold, punched her in the chest and stomped on her foot, which broke her toe.
Fournier admitted to killing her in front of Bibb County deputies, according to court records. His case went to trial and a jury found him guilty of her death. He was sentenced to life.
Daffaney Parker also was shot and killed in 2022, and her ex-boyfriend, Rickanian Williams, is suspected of the murder. Parker filed a protective order against Williams in 2021, claiming Williams had threatened to kill her multiple times. But the case was dismissed when neither of them showed up for a court hearing.
Williams was indicted in January this year on three counts of murder, one count of aggravated assault and two gun possession charges, according to court records.
In August this year, Cotina Fuller was shot and killed by her husband, Wayne Fuller Jr., who later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an apparent murder-suicide, according to law enforcement.
Following Fuller’s death, District Attorney Anita Howard raised alarm about the case and said Wayne Fuller Jr. had repeatedly shown signs that he was a risk of committing further acts of violence. Howard said Fuller Jr. had violated a temporary protective order, which led to his arrest, and had been accused of multiple incidents of violence or threats in court records.
But Judge Bryant Culpepper agreed to release Fuller on bond on June 20 of this year as long as he obeyed a protective order. Cotina Fuller later asked the court to drop her restraining order against her husband because she didn’t feel her life was in danger. She wanted Howard’s office to drop a criminal case against him, too, but Howard refused, she said.
This tragic case — in which Cotina Fuller was killed after her husband showed prior signs of abuse — is something Culpepper has experienced before. Culpepper told The Telegraph that bout 25 years ago, Culpepper let out a man who had violated his probation and, within a couple of weeks, took the life of a woman he was in a relationship with.
Culpepper said it can be difficult to make the right decision if a judge doesn’t have enough information about an alleged abuser’s violent or criminal past.
“There’s a precedent for that kind of violence to go on,” said Culpepper. “The more information you get, or you have at the hearing, the better off you are (in making) a good judgment.”
Cotina Fuller is just one of the many victims who pulled out of their petitions for protective orders to give allegedly abusive partners a second chance at their relationship, according to data analyzed by The Telegraph.
Jamie Bormann, executive director of Crisis Line and Safe House, said a victim of domestic violence, on average, will leave and return to their alleged abuser seven times before leaving for good as a result of all the barriers they face.
But Bormann emphasized that although protective orders may not be foolproof, they provide a sense of security for the victim that if the alleged abuser violates the order, a criminal charge is guaranteed thanks to court intervention.
“They know their situation better than we do,” said Bormann.
Those victims who choose to file a protective order only represent a small portion of domestic violence victims, Bormann said, particularly those who decide to separate from the alleged abusers. Bormann said being in a relationship where domestic violence occurs is “incredibly difficult for victims to escape from.” Victims may have to deal with a lack of affordable housing, lack of transportation and issues with job stability or resources.
“A lot of people think that if someone just leaves someone who’s abusing them, that the abuse stops,” said Bormann. “And the fact of the matter is that that’s not true.”
Victims who have a child with their abuser or who have been with their abuser for a long time will also have to face emotional obstacles in getting out of their relationship. The alleged abuser can also convince the victim to not proceed with a filing, Bormann said.
“We, as an agency, don’t hold it against someone if they make the decision not the follow through with a protective order,” said Bormann. “We tell them, if you ever need us again in the future, if you change your mind, we’re here because we want them to know they have a support system, even if right now is not the right time for them to move forward with their TPO.”
Vernice Carson, who says she survived a violent marriage with her first husband, told The Telegraph she put up with the abuse for 11 months before deciding to leave. Born and raised in Arkansas, she moved to Fairfield, California, for her relationship. Their relationship got worse after he confessed that he had a young child with another woman while he was away on career training.
He wanted the other woman and the young child to move into a new house with him in California, according to Carson. When she refused to leave the home, Carson was subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. She said she was hit and choked, and her jaw was broken. She said when she went to the emergency room, she was told to lie and say that she had fallen down the stairs. However, the physician who attended to her questioned the bruises on her neck, which prompted security to arrest her husband.
But Carson told security she didn’t want to press any charges, believing the relationship would work out.
“I wanted my marriage to work,” Carson said.
But as the abuse got worse, Carson coordinated with her children’s grandmother in Georgia to take several buses in four days to leave her abuser.
Carson now works as the executive assistant to Dr. Carlos Kelly at Beulahland Bible Church in Byron and Macon. She’s happily married to her second husband, who she has been with for 25 years, and is on the board of directors for Crisis Line and Safe House. She said she is writing a book based on her experience.
“The first time someone shows you who they are, you have to believe them,” Carson said.
Victims can call the nonprofit crisis intervention center Crisis Line and Safe House of Central Georgia. The organization has a hotline that helps victims file protective orders against abuses, which can be reached 24/7 at 478-745-9292. Bormann said the organization does an initial screening to make sure the abuse meets a factor required by law. Then they meet face-to-face with a legal advocate to prepare documents and make sure they’re correct so the victim can have more success in escaping abuse, Bormann said.
They also help with filing an ex-parte order, which is a restraining order that goes in place for the first 30 days before the first court hearing, according to Bormann.
Bormann also urged bystanders to be aware of signs of domestic abuse, “because sometimes cases of domestic violence don’t ever get to the criminal justice system.”
“If you see a family member who’s abusing their partner, you do your best to support the person that’s being abused and to hold the other person accountable,” said Bormann.
In addition to those needing help leaving an abusive situation, those facing an immediate crisis have emergency resources available. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those who want to help someone else. Call 988 to speak with a trained listener or visit 988lifeline.org for crisis chat services or more information.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Macon Telegraph.
