Restraining Order Blog: 2012

Removing Restraining Orders From Your Record

This Blog receives a lot of letters (emails) from readers who want to share their restraining order stories with others.
If you want to share your story, get advice, or just vent about how you got screwed by a restraining order, stalking, harassment, or domestic violence related Law, this Blog is a good place to do it!
With that said, here is Lisa's story below.

I would like to share my story. I met this guy on facebook. Seemed nice
enough to have a friendship with. Anyway, this guy turned out to be a total
crazy person. He blocked me on facebook, but then got his friends to befriend
me, I wasn't even aware it was his friends until later. They played mind games
with me, stalked me, harassed me. He even went as far as requesting my
friends friendship, setting up fake profiles and tried to see my profile
details in that way. I had to open a whole new profile just to get rid of the
constant harassment. I did see a lawyer who, because we lived cities apart,
said I could only send him a warning letter and maybe go down to that city and
file an order for peace ( harassment order) but he would have to sign for it
and if he wants to, he can contest it. So I found out later he somehow, with
the help of his police officer friends, got a restraining order against me,
without my knowledge. I am going to see a lawyer about this, because if I was
not aware of it and no documents was send to me, how on earth would I know to
not bump into him in the city he lives, as my family lives there and I visit
them once a year. I just want to warn people that there are crazy people out
there that think they are above the law, when they are the ones stalking and
harassing people. Don't allow people to bully you like that. I am just
waiting for us to get our inheritance and I will be applying to have all those
restraining orders removed, because it was gained illegally and with the help
of corrupt police personal. They could loose their jobs, but should have
thought about that, before helping their friend.

Kind regards Lisa

Racism And Virginia Restraining Orders ?

Here is an Email I received today from a Virginia resident, and reader of this restraining order blog.
How a court in the State of Virginia, could possibly grant a Civil Protection Order to protect a Man from a Woman, after he admitted in open court she had not threatened him, and did not feel he was in any danger quite frankly stinks! But, she is Black, and he is White! It sure sounds like a racist judge IMHO, to me, based upon the facts I have in this case. Unfortunately, Racism appears to be still alive and well, in this case.

Has anyone else ever encountered what appears to be blatant Judicial Racism, in the granting, or refusal to grant Restraining Orders in the State of Virginia ?

Here is the email from the victim in this Virginia Restraining Order Case, reproduced in it's entirety, including her name! I offered to change or hide Laura's name, to protect her right to privacy. Laura felt so strongly that she did nothing wrong, and was a victim of blatant Racism from the judge in Virginia, she told me to go ahead and publish the email just the way she sent it!

Good Afternoon. My situation is as follows. My ex-husband who I left
> after he cheated on me with several drug addicts and drug dealers, and
> gave me Hepatitis B has taken out a Civil Protection Order against me
> in the State of Virginia. I live in Washington DC and have had no
> contact with my ex-husband in a year. When in court he admitted he
> didn't feel fear or that he was in any danger. He also admitted that I
> had not threatened him. Yet the Judge still granted him the order with
> no evidence and his admission in open court. I was told by several
> Washington DC lawyers that the reason for this is because I am an
> African American woman, college educated and attractive and he is a
> white male. These racial differences apparently settled the case upon
> the moment I entered the courtroom. He has taken out this CPO in order
> to extract revenge and prove to his current drug dealer girlfriend
> that he is "over" me.
>
> Laura Clifton

Restraining Order Blog is not meant to harass, directly or indirectly contact, harm, imtimidate, bring any emotional distress, stalk or cyberstalk, nor intentionally slander or damage any individual in any way. Nor is it intended to initiate any third party contact on behalf of any poster or author, or violate a current restraining order in any way. If you feel there is anything on our Restraining Order Blog that is slanderous, untrue, or illegal, please bring it to our attention. Our Restraining Order Blog Legal Staff will examine your request promptly, and any post you find offensive will be reviewed and possibly removed in a timely mannner

Violation of a Restraining Order Case in Tampa

Our Tampa Restraining Order story is still unfolding as we speak. My daughter was 5 when Florida Department Of Children and Families made me get a protective order against my son to remove him from the home and to keep him away from my daughter. It was not because of domestic violence, it was because he was not able to foresee dangers ahead and Florida Department Of Children and Families was worried that due to his behaviors she would in the future get hurt. A few years later, my niece came to visit and got mad at him so she tried to get his kids taken away from him in court in downtown Tampa. While they were looking at places to put the grand kids, I told the DCF case worker about the restraining order we got in Tampa Court, which allowed us to have peaceful contact. She informed me that the restraining order we got in Tampa was no longer effective, so we assumed that there was a statue of limitations on that. At the time, it was 5 years past the order of protection. Right after Thanksgiving, my son was helping me clean my yard, and my daughter who will be 18 next week mouthed off to him, cursing at him and started walking off while he was trying to talk to her. He tried to restrain her, and she elbowed him. He put her to the ground and she fought him. Long story short..the restraining order we got in Tampa Court was not dropped, and he got arrested not only for violation of that order, but for trying to discipline his sister who is 10 years younger than he is. My daughter asked the Hillsborough County State Attorney to drop the charges, and the state prosecutor told both of us that he was not going to. Just read your blog and thought that this Tampa Violation of a Restraining Order case might be interesting to you as well.

Divorce Restraining Order Tampa Florida

Hello.

My wife issued a Tampa Florida Restraining Order against me in preparation for a divorce. I live in NorthTampa, and I have never even had a parking ticket in Hillsborough County. She said her scumbag divorce lawyer would not take her case, unless she filed for a temporary restraining order in Tampa, and got one. Anyway, this "order of protection" has been in effect for about a month. Yesterday, she came over to pick up the rest of her stuff. Everything she listed that she wanted on the Tampa Court Document, was boxed up, labeled, and placed in our Garage. I left before she showed up, and my son handled the transfer. Here is the problem. On arrival, she demanded to be let into the house, even though ALL her items on list was in our garage ready to go. She threatened to call the Tampa Police if he wouldn't let her in. He did, and she proceeded to take another 53 items out of the house that were NOT on the list! Can she do that? She even took all my towels out of the bathroom which sadly, I found out too late. Is this legal? Can I demand she return these items?

I have retained a well known Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney, who also is well known for handling Divorce cases, who lives and works here in North Tampa. (I live in the Tampa Palms Subdivison) But then I found this awesome Restraining Order Blog in a Google Web Search!

LOL, Every time I ask a simple quesion of my Tampa Criminal Defense Lawyer, I am "on the clock" as far as billing goes.

My Attorney is expensive, and not "Shy" at all for socking it to me, financially, every chance he gets, it seems .... !

Hey, another question. Do all Divorce and Criminal Lawyers here in theTampa Florida area do that shit ? I mean bill you for answering a simple question ?

Thanks,

Orlando Florida Restraining Order Murder

This is a letter we received from a regular reader and contributor. It demonstrates the inability of an Orange County Restraining Order to stop a Murder. This Blog understands there is violence against women. But if you think a piece of paper signed by a Judge is going to stop it, the statistics do not agree. It would seem that all these Orlando Restraining Orders are doing, is pissing people going through a break up off, and sometimes sending them right over the edge.

I come from a large Italian Family, and my Aunt was being both verbally and physically abused by my Uncle, many years ago. My Aunt was a good Catholic Girl, so divorce was not an option, in her mind.

After calling the Police several times, a detective followed up with her. His advice ? Go get a gun permit, and learn how to shoot it!

Well, she did, and she let it be known to my abusive uncle, that she had a gun, and knew how to use it.

Guess what ? The abuse stopped! My Uncle did finally divorce my Aunt, and went and found an easier target to abuse.

It is stupid to think an Orange County Florida Restraining Order is going to stop an abuser who is really determined to harm someone,

Restraining Orders are being abused everyday by vindictive ex partners, and those seeking an unfair advantage in a Divorce.

This Murder, in spite of an order of protection being in place, is just another example of the failure of these orders to really protect people.

The letter is below:

It's happened again. Since the implementation of the stricter anti-stalking laws in Florida, there has been a domestic violence related

murder nearly every week.

About 11 a.m. Thursday, October 18, Bradford Baumet walked into the Las Dominicanas M&M hair salon in the Orlando suburb of Casselberry and shot his estranged girlfriend, 44-year-old Marcia Santiago, and three others. I was at the gym, 2 blocks away. Santiago was listed in "serious condition" at a local hospital, police said.

Santiago was scheduled to appear before an Orange County judge Thursday afternoon to seek a permanent restraining order against Baumet, court records show. Baumet was scheduled to appear in his own defense.

On Thursday evening, authorities released the names of the three women who were killed.

Eugenia Marte, 36, was co-owner of the salon and had filed a similar request against Baumet weeks ago, according to court filings. Marte, 45 was scheduled to appear in court next week to request that her injunction against Baumet become permanent.

The two other fatalities were identified as salon employee Noelia Gonzalez-Brito, 28, of Kissimmee, and customer Gladys Cabrera, 52, of Orlando. Gonzalez-Brito was five months pregnant.

This month, Baumet drove to the salon and threatened to kill the women inside while he banged on the locked door, according to court filings reviewed by the Sentinel. Santiago wrote on her application for an injunction against Baumet that she feared for her life and that he had gotten physically abusive with her in the past.

She wrote that she did not immediately file the complaint with the court because Baumet had threatened to kill her.

Clearly, these new anti-stalking laws and restraining orders don't work. As I stated in a previous article, it seems to have driven these

crazed killers to make sure they get the job done right the first time. There has to be a better way to protect these victims of domestic violence.

Clearly, a piece of paper is not the answer.

Orlando Stalking Laws

Here is a letter from a reader regarding the anti stalking and cyber stalking laws in Orlando, Florida.

Hey Kris,

Kudos to keeping your blog up to date. I've never wanted to submit an article, until now. The lead story on our news is that they've passed stricter

anti-stalking laws here in Orlando. Now, you don't need ANY proof whatsoever, in order to obtain an injunction. You only need to say that you

OR one of your family members is being stalked or cyber-stalked. I don't think I have to tell you the implications. The abuse of the system

will be immeasurable.

Meanwhile, we've had 3 domestic violence deaths this week in Orlando. One of the victims, (maybe 2), had permanent injunctions against their

killers. If someone is going to kill you, no piece of paper can stop them. They'll just make sure they get it right the first time.

Please alert your readers to this new piece of legislation. I wish the news channels would debate the other side of this new law.

If we all hadn't been on the other side of this issue, we would have no idea why anyone would object to stricter anti-stalking laws, but mark my words,

this is going to get so far out of control, the fallout will be epic. God help us all.

Dating Violence Injunction Tampa Florida

A reader here in the Tampa Florida area has some questions for her Dating Violence Injunction appeal. Here is the email we recently received from her. We have omitted her name, to protect her privacy, and not compromise her day in court.
These Dating Violence Injunctions can sometimes be a total mockery of the Legal System here in Tampa Florida, and other jurisdictions as well. I have personally been arrested, and had to appear in Hillsborough County Criminal Court several time, to face charges of violation Restraining Orders and Dating Violence Injunctions. I was under the mistaken belief that a Hillsborough County Florida Domestic Violence Injunction could not be enforced, if you had proof the Petitioner was in constant contact, with you! Think about it for a minute ? Petitioners here in Tampa claim fear, and are granted these too easy to get Injunctions everyday. Now, how can someone "be in fear", when they are contacting you, when they have an injunction in place against you ?
In fact, when the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Deputies came to my home to arrest me, I showed them my ex girlfriends panties she had left the night before, as well as other evidence! The Police said it did not matter, since she can contact me all she wanted. I was the one restrained from contact with her.

It became quite clear to me that an arrest for a violation of the injunction, was all the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office cared about. Get the arrest and the conviction at all costs, seems to be the order of the day for the Sheriffs Office, here in Hillsborough County Florida.

Here is the email we just received.

Hello,

I have been reading your blog for over a year now. I am in the midst of an appeal and could really use some help.

The Petitioner filed for a Dating Violence Injunction against me in Tampa, and the hearing was held in March 2012. The petitioner was granted the injunction ex parte initially. During the time between the filing of the petition and the hearing, the petitioner had contact with me, the respondent, on 6 occasions. Ultimately, the injunction was granted by the judge in Tampa for 1 year.

I am in the midst of an appeal as a pro se Appellant. I have argued that the petition states that ANY party who makes contacts has violated the injunction. I have a reply brief due in 20 days. Does anyone know of any citations, statutes, or case law (preferred) in which a petitioner is found to have violated their own injunction? I would so very much appreciate the help. The petitioner has made numerous accusations that are not true and I really need to win this appeal.

Thanks,

Divorce Restraining Orders

Restraining orders are quite common in a Divorce. They are quite commonly used by the person seeking the Divorce to get an unfair advantage.
In my brothers divorce, his ex wife lied to get a restraining order issued, and even had one of her 2 children Lie. She told her daughter that if she did not lie, and say Daddy tried to rape her, that they would not get any money to live on, after the divorce!

Here is a letter we just got from a reader of this Blog, in case anyone wants to share their Divorce Restraining Order experiences.

My brother is going through a Divorce back in December of 2011 his wife told him she was leaving not know why. Two Days later the police show up at the door telling him he has to leave the home there was a restraining order filed against him. The judge who signed the restraining order signed on the reason my brother call his wife a Dumb Bitch. So he was told he could not come out to the house for two weeks. When he went back his wife cleared the house even killed his cat. They also own a business (restaurant ) He was lock out of that he owns 50% and she has embezzled money forged his name on his Stocks drained the business accounts took his name off of them and open new ones.

Pasco County Florida Domestic Battery

Our blog is against the misuse and abuse of restraining orders. But in the story below, it is alleged by the Pasco County Sheriffs Department that this person beat his father. Why was he only charged with domestic battery, and not felony assault and battery ? When the police arrived, the father was bleeding, and was hit 15 times. Under Florida law, striking a person multiple times is supposed to be a Felony! This alleged parent beater get IMHO a slap on the wrist, and a paltry 250.00 bond! Yet people who are in Love sometimes violate a restraining order with no violence at all, and get upgraded to stalking charges, with no bond

Man, 27, beat his dad …… for not cooking his dinner

A man upset his parents didn’t cook dinner for him was arrested Saturday morning after beating his father, according to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office.

About 12:25 a.m. Saturday, Kevin Michael Reyes, 27, confronted his parents at their 15055 Lancer Road home in Spring Hill. Reyes, who lives with his parents, said he was “starving” and was upset no one had cooked dinner for him.

Reyes began to argue with his father, Tim Thomas, when he attacked him, deputies said. Thomas said he believes he was punched 15 times in the face with a closed fist and after being pushed to the floor, was kicked several times.

An arrest report said Thomas, 40, was bleeding from the right side of his face as a result of the fight.

Reyes, who remains in custody at the Land O’ Lakes Jail, told deputies he blacked out and doesn’t remember beating his father. He’s charged with domestic battery. Bail is set at $250.

Manhattan Restraining Order Questions

I just received an Email from a reader of this Blog.
He is seeking our advice on what to do about a temporary order of protection In New York City he did not ask for. The 2 incidences occurred in Manhattan he says, and his information must be complete, so he can obtain a Gun Permit.
I am not familiar with the NYC or Manhattan Legal System. I was hoping one of our readers could help him track down the TPO information..

I came across your site while trying to find information on restraining orders in NYC
I was a peace officer in NYC for five years (unarmed but with full arrest powers) I was assigned to several different shelters in the city and we made a good amount of arrests during this 5 years, most were misdemeanors but some were felonies. Make a long story short I was twice assualted while making the arrest. Both guys were "bad" guys just released from prison and with no where to go ended up in the shelters.
When I arrested these indiviuals I was assualted and the district attorney's office gave me an order of protection in both cases. I did not request the TPO but I received it anyway. I do not remember the guy's name or even the arrest dates but they both took place in Manhattan between 1998 - 2000.
Now I recently went to apply for a NYC pistol license and right there on the paperwork is questions about restaining orders. I need to find out all of the information about the TRO issued to me for the application. I do not know where to go to find out the info.
Is there a web site or number I can call?
Thanks for any help you can offer

Questions About Restraining Order

It is our policy to publish letters we get asking questions about restraining orders, if the sender gives us permission. We do change the names a bit, to protect a persons right to privacy.
Here is a letter we just received, seeking advice.

Hello,

My name is _ and I have a situation I need guidance with. My friend, Rob, was served with a restraining order on 7/12/2012 by his baby's, Clayton, mother. She served this to him for the second time to retrieve her son. She is under investigation with CPS for drug abuse and failing to be able to take care of her 1 year old son, Clayton. She received this restraining order by stating Rob pulled a gun on her, during a fight they had back on 5/9/2012 where she hit him. That DV case was dropped because my friend Rob failed to stand up in court. She falsified information in there regarding who should have custody of Clayton. My friend Rob just handed Clayton over to her without even calling the police. So, now she has Clayton with her and Rob has a restraining order, and up until last night, I was supposed to be restrained from going within 500 feet of her or Clayton, but the King County Sheriff said their copy does not have my name written in it at all and there is nothing about giving Clayton to her for custody. The first restraining order she filed said Rob was sneaking around her back yard with a gun and she was scared for her, and her children's lives. When she tried to pull this again by taking Clayton with that restraining order, Rob called the police. The police said she lied and the restraining order does not enforce that Clayton goes to her and she should take it to court. Where she showed up late and the restraining order was thrown out. I am unsure what to do, I called last night for a well child check on Clayton because of some information I got from her neighbor. Which turned up nothing, because no one was home.

Any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated. I am not sure what to do, I am not his mother, but I still love him. He can't fend for himself, and my friend Rob is beside himself as to what to do.

Stalking In America

Every American wants Romance and Love, and most of us will do anything to save our failing relationships. All of our lives we are bombarded with mixed messages of how to have a relationship, and win someone's Love. Unfortunately, when Big Brother gets involved, the things that worked before, like sending a box of Candy or Flowers, or apologizing in Person, can get you arrested for Stalking!
It is only Human Nature when you Love someone, to try and find out and fix what you perceive to be wrong with the relationship. You might even ask some mutual friends what they think went wrong with the relationship. This can get you arrested for third party contact, if a restraining order is in place. Do it twice here in Tampa Florida, and you qualify for Stalking! Now, do it 3 times, and guess what ?
You are now eligible for Felony Stalking!

Unconsciously, many of us are conditioned to become Stalkers, w/o our knowledge. Many Love Stories in our Literature are full of heroic efforts by one partner, to win the Love of another.

Before we get in music about Stalking, here is a quote from our friend Kevin about stalking.

"I'm pretty sure the reason stalking incidents have gone up so significantly is because the definition of stalking has changed. Twenty years ago, if you broke up with someone and they tried to get you back, sending you flowers, candy, calling unexpectedly, showing up at your house or work, that was just called romantic. Look at the movie "Say Anything" for example, the famous ghetto blaster scene. By today's standards the dude would be arrested. Now a days if you ask a woman out twice you could get tagged as a stalker.

This is not to say there aren't real incidents of obsessive stalking. You hear about it in the news all the time. I know a few women who it's happened to and it's seriously creepy. But I'm sure most of the incidents reported are simply ordinary run-of-the-mill jilted lovers who take a few weeks to realize the five year relationship is really over. And of course in our paranoid culture, these incidents are red-flagged as stalking. I guess what I'm saying is that I doubt there's been an increase in stalking lately. It's just that there's a name and a stigma for it now. There's also been a dramatic increase in fines for failure to wear a seatbelt in the past 30 years, mostly because it wasn't considered a crime in the past.

By this modern definition, pretty much any break-up song is a stalker song. Anyone who's ever loved someone deeply enough and is not over it the instant the relationship ends, calling, begging, pleading, holding onto hope, is a stalker. Situations like this should be differntiated from the obsessive, creepy, violent, intrusive kind of stalking that's the real problem in today's culture. If this were the case, I'm sure the numbers would be far less than 8%."

Just my opinion.

-Kevin

Let's examine some of these Songs about Stalking (most were number 1 Hits!)

In the video below, he is Stalking the girl he loves.

Here is a Country Singer Clay Aiken talking quite clearly about Stalking in the video below!

Let's not forget about our friend Sting who used to be with the Police, before he went Solo, LOL
If he did the Stalking he advocates in this song, he would be with the Police again, but in Handcuffs this time, Listen to the words, and remember this song, and the ones posted above, were all big hits!

Here is a recent song about Stalking In America by Lady Gaga. It shows that Women must have Stalking thoughts too, because in the song she says she will follow and chase her man down until he Loves her.

Our Songs are full of references to simple persistence, that can now be called Stalking. Here is one from my generation. I was 13 when this song came out.

Or this one by (Gasp) a very pretty woman, Debbie Harry of Blondie! She says in the song she will drive past his house, to see who's around! This was a huge number one hit, back in the day. The words to this song are sung very clearly.
Lets look at some of the lyrics in this song, she is talking about Stalking and Murder!
I will drive past your house
And if the lights are all down
I'll see who's around

And if the lights are all out
I'll follow your bus downtown
See who's hanging out

I'll walk down the mall
Stand over by the wall
Where I can see it all
Find out who ya call
Lead you to the supermarket checkout
Some specials and rat food, get lost in the crowd

I really like this song. I used to dance to is a lot, back in the early 80's. But that doesn't mean I can't recognize a stalker song when I hear one. This starts as a song about wanting to be with someone and seems to turn into a kidnapping. Ouch!

You are an obsession, I cannot sleep
I am a possession unopened at your feet
There is no balance, no equality
Be still I will not accept defeat

I will have you, yes I will have you
I will find a way and I will have you
Like a butterfly, a wild butterfly
I will collect you and capture you

CHORUS
You are an obsession, you're my obsession
Who do you want me to be to make you sleep with me
[repeat]

I feed you, I drink you by day and by night
I need you, I need you by sun or candlelight
You protest, you want to leave
You say there's no alternative

Your face appears again, I see the beauty there
But I see danger, stranger beware
A circumstance in your naked dreams
Your affection is not what it seems

CHORUS

My fantasy has turned to madness
All my goodness has turned to badness
My need to possess you has consumed my soul
My life is trembling, I have no control

I will have you, yes I will have you
I will find a way and I will have you
Like a butterfly, a wild butterfly
I will collect you and capture you

Pauly Perrette Restraining Order Coyote Shivers

I don't watch TV, except for The History Channel and Football. I did not even know who Pauly Perrette was before this letter I received, or that she had a Restraining Order against her ex husband Francis "Coyote" Shivers. I do not know her ex husband either, or his new wife. The abuse of Restraining Orders has long been a topic we write about on this Blog. I am not taking sides in any of this between Coyote Shivers and Pauly Perrette.
I think our readers may be interested to follow this high profile restraining order violation and stalking case.
We welcome Pauly Perrette to tell our readers her version of this restraining order violation story, to be fair to her.
Here is the email we received from Coyote Shivers

Hello,

I saw your blog, and wanted to alert you to my case. I have been the victim of Restraining Order abuse committed by the most famous False Accuser in America. I do not have time to explain the entire case in writing, but I ask you to please see the links here and educate yourself about the case. I believe it is sufficiently high-profile (and provably false, although I cant divulge exactly why prior to trial) that if enough attention was placed on this case it could possibly be a catalyst to changing laws.

Here is my wife and I swarmed by paparazzi after I was let out of jail recently on $100,000.00 bond: youtu.be/hhMpEgpgFe4

And here is the website to follow the case: www.FreeCoyoteShivers.com

Again, I can't divulge what we have to use at trial, but I personally guarantee you that VIDEO will prove this very famous person lied to get a Restraining Order, and that she is USING the Order as a weapon to stalk me and my wife.

Thank you for your time,

Francis Shivers

I just did the Google search a poster below suggested, and came up with conflicting information. I have no horse in this race. I am only interested in this case as to how it may or may not effect restraining orders, and their enforcement.
I found this, in support of Pauley Perrette's position. In the interest of fairness, I am posting it.

TV Actress Pauley Perrette's Endless Nightmare Divorce
from FOX NEWS

You may not know the name Pauley Perrette right away, but if you watch CBS primetime, you know her face. She’s the attractive, spunky actress who plays Abby Suito on “NCIS,” starring Mark Harmon.
Abby is known for her high level of intelligence and playful energy, but in real life, the actress who plays her has been going through hell.

The reason is her ex-husband, 41-year-old Canadian Francis “Coyote” Shivers, a sometime musician and part-time club disc jockey who Perrette claims has been harassing her for the last two-and-a-half years, after almost four years of marriage.

Shivers — who according to court documents has many aliases, including Paul Edwards and Frank Keber — didn’t start his reign of terror with Perrette. His second-most recent ex-wife, Bebe Buell, who lives in Maine, has been inundated with a mountain of false police reports, invented complaints and restraining orders for years — all of which came after she told Shivers to leave and try to find work in Los Angeles in 1998.
“Instead, he found Pauley,” Buell says. “His next meal ticket.”

According to both women, Shivers stalked them and inflicted upon each of them endless mental distress. They each claim he terrorized them sexually during their respective relationships. When they compared notes, Buell and Perrette found that their situations, in fact, were eerily the same.

The women say Shivers, who denies everything, has been clever in his manipulation of the court system, too.
“He uses Family Court as his arena to harass women," Perrette alleges. "There’s no link between Family Court and Criminal Court. So he can commit perjury. He can put illegally gotten e-mails and false declarations into the court record. There’s no penalty for it.”

In 1999, once he was established in California, Shivers got a restraining order against Buell, even though she was 3,000 miles away and hadn’t seen him in a year.

Buell opted not to fight it, since she wasn’t going west, and eventually it expired. But she says her total costs in battling Shivers’ legal haranguing have now spiraled into the high five figures.

Perrette didn’t want her story to become public — “I didn’t want to be attached to him in the press,” she says — but once another alleged victim of Shivers came forward, she felt she had no choice.

In July, one of Shivers’ former girlfriends, Angela Garber, filed a complaint against him in Los Angeles Superior Court for assault, battery, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
But Garber waited two years to see an attorney after the alleged incidents, which is why the Los Angeles Police Department never took the case, I’m told.

“He threatened her if she ever talked to anyone,” Perrette said. Eventually, Garber contacted Buell, who put her in touch with Perrette.

Garber’s charges, which are on public record, are frightening if proved to be correct. They include several episodes of rape and sodomy, not to mention descriptions of Shivers locking her in car trunks or just plain hitting her.

At least one of these episodes occurred in Perrette’s house, only hours after she left. Shivers, in his court-filed response, denies all these charges. He claims that all these women are in collusion against him and even claims that they stalked him.

Full disclosure: I knew Shivers slightly in the mid-1990s when he was married to Buell and living in New York, although I haven’t seen him in at least eight years. Then around 32 years old, he fancied himself a rock star, although his only means of support was the occasional gig at tiny rock clubs in the East Village. His income was almost wholly derived from his marriage to Buell, who was then managing the career of her daughter, actress Liv Tyler.

When I heard four months ago that Shivers was making Perrette's life miserable, I went to visit her at her recently regained Hollywood home. According to Perrette, when she filed a restraining order against Shivers during their divorce, the judge in the case gave her two options:
“I could either have a restraining order or live there with him. Because of my fear of him, I left. I grabbed my two dogs, my cat and my laptop and I ran.”

For almost two years, Perrette has fought Shivers in court for the old rambling house she’d bought with her relatively small TV salary (she’s fifth-listed in billing on "NCIS"). When she finally took it back — after paying Shivers to leave a house he never owned or had title to, she says — Perrette says the place had been vandalized. There was writing and drawing on the walls and damage to pretty much every room.
“Rat and mice feces were all over the floor,” she says.

At a friend’s apartment where she was staying just down the hill, Perrette told me of her nightmare trying to get away from Shivers.

She detailed an unending series of harassments, including Shivers’ penchant for hacking into her computer — something she and Buell realized they had in common — and leaving thousands of notes on small pieces of yellow paper.

While we were talking, Perrette turned over a standing ashtray, and a yellow missive fell out.
“I thought I got the last of them,” she said, “but they are everywhere.”

She said the notes almost always carried threats written in the third person, like “Do not betray him.”
Shivers would leave confetti cut into heart shapes, she said, copied from a tattoo they’d both gotten long ago (and she has since had removed).

Perrette points out that the vandalism seems to be tied to the physical abuse. In Garber’s complaint, she alleges that Shivers branded the letter “C” into her back while she was tied to a chair. Perrette found the same branding all over her house.

Over the last two years, Perrette, Buell and several of Shivers’ other accusers have bonded. It's ironic, since it was Perrette’s signature on a complaint that secured a restraining order against Buell a few years ago.
Perrette claims that she knew nothing about it, and that her name was forged.

“I told Bebe she’s a really crappy stalker,” Perrette says with a rueful laugh. “She should try something else. In eight years I’ve never met her! She’s obviously not good at it!”

Perrette herself got a restraining order against Shivers in late 2004, which has been renewed several times. Nevertheless, she says, “Every bit of vandalism in my house is a violation of the restraining order. The restraining order states, among other things, no harassment, no leaving notes, etc. He destroyed my house, [and] that is as harassing as it gets.”

The next renewal hearing comes in November.

“My whole goal was to be able to work in television and film and maintain a normal life, never be in a tabloid. I was clean as snow. And now there’s this guy. And I find myself in the middle of a horror movie I didn’t audition for.”

Efforts to reach Shivers’ most recent attorney of record, Barbara J. Youngman, were frustrated by the lack of a phone listing anywhere, even in legal directories.

The inability to nail Shivers down and see him prosecuted for anything so far has been his accusers' biggest frustration.Perrette says many visits to the police have yielded no help.

“I’ve filed several police reports for violation of restraining order. He’s shown up at events he wasn’t invited to, and claimed I was stalking him. I reported the vandalism. I’ve been working with the Threat Management Unit, which is supposed to work on stalking cases.”

There have been no results so far. Why?
“That’s the question,” she says. “No one knows. Two different police officers and one lawyer told me I should have stayed and let him break my arms.”

Perrette recently turned to famed Los Angeles private investigator John Nazarian for help.
“I saw that he worked with the unit. You know, I love cops and I wanted to work well with them. His logo is 'Make Your Problem My Problem.' I feel like he’s working on this 24 hours a day so I can do my job. And I love my job.”

Nazarian says that after dealing with many celebrity stalkers, Shivers — who, we must add, denies it all — may be the worst. Perrette agrees.

“I’m the only thing standing between him and his next victim,” she says. “The three of us,” she adds, “fear for our lives 24 hours a day. We’re always looking over both shoulders.”