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Civil Procedure – dismissal — malicious proceedings

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 17, 2012//

Civil Procedure – dismissal — malicious proceedings

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 17, 2012//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Procedure – dismissal — malicious proceedings

A suit alleging battery should not have been dismissed, even though the plaintiff had at one time recanted her allegations.

“This suit is not groundless, let alone frivolous. The plaintiff’s recantation is an admission and is therefore admissible against her, but it is not conclusive, see Morales v. Johnson, 659 F.3d 588, 606 (7th Cir. 2011); United States v. Parker, 508 F.3d 434, 437-38 (7th Cir. 2007), given police photos that corroborate her testimony that her husband beat her on March 17, 2008, and the fact that recantations by abused spouses often turn out to be untruthful because of the victim’s fear of retaliation, financial dependence, or hope of saving the marriage. See, e.g., United States v. Young, 316 F.3d 649, 655, 658 (7th Cir. 2002); Tom Lininger, ‘Prosecuting Batterers After Crawford,’ 91 Va. L. Rev. 747, 768-71 (2005), and references cited there; U.S. Department of Justice et al., ‘The Validity and Use of Evidence Concerning Battering and Its Effects in Criminal Trials: Report Responding to Section 40507 of the Violence Against Women Act’ 20-21 (May 1996), www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/batter.pdf (visited Sept. 12, 2012); cf. United States v. Skoien, 614 F.3d 638, 643 (7th Cir. 2010) (en banc).”

Reversed and Remanded.

11-3398 West v. West

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Mills, J., Posner, J.

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