A Long Island judge has thrown out criminal contempt charges against a divorcing man who purportedly violated an order of protection’s prohibition against making “disparaging remarks” about his wife.
“The inherent problem with the inclusion of the term ‘disparaging remark’ in the court’s mandated order is that characterizing a comment as ‘bad’ or ‘critical’ is largely based upon subjective interpretation. This creates grey area which not only makes it difficult to provide the defendant with adequate notice of the prohibited conduct, but upon the filing of a criminal contempt charge, the People’s ability to meet its burden of proof (proof beyond a reasonable doubt) appears to be an impossibility,” District Court Judge Tricia Ferrell (See Profile) in Nassau County wrote in People v. Kiel, 2012NA000221.
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