BM Harassment

[mrjoshua101]

I have a legitimation case pending in Superior court inGA. As soon as I hired a lawyer and filed the petition, my BM decided to reportme to child support services, even though I was regularly sending her acheck every payday, and child support would be addressed in the legitimationproceedings. When my lawyer got the hearing postponed, she refused to let mesee my daughter. A couple of months later, she filed child abandonment chargeson me. The magistrate court judge threw it out. Then she invited meover to get the baby for a visit, and proceeded to call the cops on me and tellthem that I was raising hell and she wanted me out. Then she called my familyand told them the same lie. She then called my job (I'm in law enforcementalso) and tried to get me in trouble with my supervisor with the same lies.When that didn't work, she called the internal affairs dept and told them Irefuse to pay child support and she had to call the police on me. Theydismissed her complaint as invalid. Question: is there anything I or my lawyercan do to stop this harassment? She's trying to get me arrested, fired, orboth. She's angry that I'm trying to get joint physical and legal custody.She just wants half my take home pay every month and twice a month visitationfor me. I think she may try filing an order of protection next... who knows?Will this harassment help my case in court?<o:p></o:p>

[ocean]

If you have prove all of that, YOU file the restraining order papers. Have it state she can not call you or your job but can email for children issues only.
If she calls your family over and over then can ask for their own restraining orders.
In your final papers, you can have that "mother will not contact father's family or fathers job for any reason".

[gemini3]

Also, make sure you have a witness with you at all times if you have to interact with her in person.  If she offers to let you see the baby, meet her in a public place.  Don't put yourself in a position where your actions can be called into question.

Keep a journal of everything that happens.  When you see the baby, communication you receieve from her, threats she makes, etc.

[Kent]

Also, GA is a 2-party state i.e. you can record voice and video without her knowing, so get a small voice recorder (I use the Olympus WS-300M, $ 15 on ebay) and record all your conversations with her. If you talk to her on speakerphone it will record that too, or you can get an adapter for that (Olympus TP-7, also on ebay).

If you know how you will park your car, use a camcorder or a dashboard cam to record video of all exchanges.
Anytime she makes false allegations again, you have proof otherwise right there with you.

Kent!

[gemini3]

Kent... "two-party" means that all parties must consent to the recording.  A "one-party" state means only one party needs to consent to the recording.  Very important to get these straight!

GA is actually a One-Party state, so notification is not needed.  However, a lot of judges view that as a sort of entrapment, and won't be all that pleased with it.  It's best to send the other party an e-mail or certified letter, or have a recorded conversation, that notifies them that all calls will be recorded.  That covers you regarding telephone recording laws, and gives the judge a better impression of your motives.  It also makes the other party look really unstable if they still give you ammo when they know you are recording them.  And, with most of these types of people, they will.  They can't help themselves.

[smtotwo]

Dh sent ONE certified letter to the ex. It just said that ALL future communications would be either recorded or videotaped. If that was not acceptable then she would have to text or email. Worked for us.

[Kent]

Gemini,

Sorry, GA is a one-party state. Recording is legal.

Kent!

[SuperDad52]

So, if one want's to record conversations but it's not legal (FL) w/out stating such to the other party can you tell the other party in one conversation from now on every conversation we have including this one will be recorded w/out having to tell them on every conversation? Or as amtotwo posted send a certified letter stating such and that will suffice?

Thanks!
SuuuuperDaaad

[bloom6372]

My DH sent BM one letter stating that. Then each year, he sends another, with "As a reminder, any and all calls on my home line will be recorded" (we are in Japan, so we only have a U.S. house number through Vonage--No cell to call).

So, if one want's to record conversations but it's not legal (FL) w/out stating such to the other party can you tell the other party in one conversation from now on every conversation we have including this one will be recorded w/out having to tell them on every conversation? Or as amtotwo posted send a certified letter stating such and that will suffice?

Thanks!
SuuuuperDaaad