How Tennessee's legal system can support domestic violence victims — and let them down

Editor's note: This story is part of a series on domestic violence.Other stories in this series focus on the scope of the problem in Tennessee,the impact of COVID-19, issues related to child abuse and the psychology of abusers.If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

From the witness stand, the woman testified that her then-boyfriend had his hands around her neck, choking her to the point that she feared she was going to die. She was recounting the abuse while he sat behind a table 20 feet away.

Afterward, the judge said something many victims of domestic violence don’t often hear.

“I find that she is credible,” General Sessions Judge Marcus Floyd said, affirming her credibility four other times throughout the hearing. The Tennessean is not naming the woman for her safety, but the judge granted her an order of protection against her ex-boyfriend.

Floyd hears dozens of cases like these every week inside his fourth-floor courtroom at the Birch Building in downtown Nashville. He presides over dockets dedicated solely to domestic violence.

How domestic violence victims navigate the justice system is complex, from interactions with police to seeking protection and prosecution from the court. And for decades, that system did more harm than good for victims, said Tami Sullivan, director of the Yale University School of Medicine’s family violence research and programs, but she feels things are improving nationally.

Here's where things stand in Tennessee.

How police respond to domestic violence calls

Police responding to a domestic violence call complete a lethality assessment to determine an aggressor's capacity to cause serious harm or death to the victim. If the assessment shows that is likely, a shelter referral is enacted by police on the victim's behalf.

In Cheatham County, for example, first responders speak with Safe Haven of Cheatham County staff “and then Safe Haven works from there,” Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Chris Gilmore said.

As police collect evidence, they’ll identify who the “primary aggressor” was — which can be difficult in some instances, Gilmore said, especially when both parties have visible wounds — and determine if an arrest is appropriate. Floyd pointed out it’s not up to the victim whether the aggressor is arrested.

After an aggressor is taken into custody, Gilmore said, they’ll be taken before a magistrate where they’ll likely be given bail, which includes a few conditions that are common throughout the state: Stay away from the victim’s residence or where they’re likely to be; don’t contact them; don’t drink or use drugs; and surrender your firearms, if you have them.

Thousands apply, but few orders of protection granted

Nashville police offer everyone who calls about a domestic violence incident the ability to seek an order of protection, and victims can also go directly to a night court commissioner to get one.

Orders of protection are civil orders, rather than criminal, that impose restrictions on respondents — or alleged abusers — that are similar to bail conditions in most domestic violence cases. That includes prohibiting the respondent from contacting the other person.

After an emergency order is granted, a hearing is set where a judge decides whether to grant a full order of protection, which lasts for a year.

Every year in Tennessee, thousands apply for full orders of protection, most of which aren’t granted. In Davidson County, 4,064 applications were made in 2022 for an order of protection, while 1,112 were granted, according to Tracy Cartwright in the Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office.

General Sessions Judge Ana Escobar, who also hears domestic violence dockets, said most orders of protection aren’t granted because the victim doesn’t show up for court, which can happen for several reasons. They may fear retaliation from an abuser or think leaving would be dangerous, or there may be extenuating circumstances that make seeking an order of protection untenable, such as complications over how they will continue to care for a child, Yale's Sullivan gave as examples.

The judges said they understand that victims know best when it’s a safe time for them to leave their abusers, and they want to be there for them whenever that is.

“Our hope is that when somebody is finally ready to prosecute, we're here, we’re ready, we're not going to judge you,” Escobar said.

‘Teeth to it’: How orders of protection can be effective

Law enforcement officials say civil orders of protection are generally an effective tool, especially given that violating one carries a severe penalty.

Violators can be sentenced to a year minus a day in jail for each violation in Tennessee, while anyone who violates a condition of bail is placed in jail for just 10 days.

“There’s a little bit of teeth to it,” Gilmore said, adding that he thinks it deters some people from contacting the person who pursued the protective order. “If somebody gets caught for a DUI, they lose their license, but on domestic violence, they can physically go sit in jail.”

Metro Nashville Detective Terrance McBride said it also helps law enforcement keep a record of a possible abusers’ actions because they are following up with victims after granting the order.

Protective orders can also benefit victims in other ways, as some abusers can be ordered to pay a portions of a victim's rent or provide other relief in child custody, said Jennifer Escue, CEO of the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

‘Still a piece of paper’

But the threat of incarceration won’t deter some people.

“I tell this to people all the time in my 20-plus years of law enforcement — I tell them, ‘Just remember, that’s still a piece of paper,’” Gilmore said.

In cases where an abuser isn’t deterred by what that piece of paper says, getting one can just put the victim at greater risk, Sullivan said.

“So, we have to trust victims when they say, ‘I don't want this,’ because they know their situation better than anyone else,” she said.

Escobar said she doesn’t often see criminal cases where a victim already has an order of protection against an offender, but those sorts of cases are some of the worst.

“Luckily it’s not that frequent, but it's scary when it does happen,” she said.

One of those cases was the murder of Marie Varsos and her mother, Deborah Sisco, by Varsos’ estranged husband in April 2021.

Prosecutors had charged Shaun Varsos with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon just a month before, when Marie Varsos also received an order of protection against him. He was ordered to dispossess his weapons, but the court has very little power to enforce that provision, the judges said.

The husband shot and killed the mother and daughter with a shotgun before turning the weapon on himself.

How a victim’s loved one thinks more lives could be saved

Marie Varsos’ attorney Karla Miller said at the time that “an order of protection alone is not the solution to the problem of domestic violence.”

Since her death, Marie Varsos' brother Alex Youn has been an advocate for domestic violence survivors and has called especially for increased use of GPS monitoring in such cases. Youn said GPS monitoring could have saved his sister’s life.

Judges can make GPS monitoring a condition of someone’s release on bail if they’re charged with a crime. But in civil cases, like for orders of protection, the cost of a monitor is placed on defendants, who Escobar said usually can’t afford it because they’re so expensive.

But Youn feels so strongly about GPS monitoring that he said families of victims are willing to pay for the devices to protect their loved ones.

Warning signs: How to be more aware of when a relationship can turn deadly

Reporters Craig Shoup and Kirsten Fiscus contributed to this story.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Domestic violence and police: Systems across Tennessee work to help