Protective Order filed for ulterior Motives

It seems like you just violated said gag order.

AND:

Get a good lawyer. Either way, whether what you're saying here is the truth, a half truth, or not, you'll need one.

Can't violate something that hasn't been drafted yet? The issue at hand is that the initial protective order which under state law is extremely specific, was filed with the intent of using it to accomplish something outside the scope of its intended purpose.

If it's important to you, you will indeed need professional advice and representation. I do think you've been taken advantage of, but I'm not at all sure you have recourse. The order was withdrawn, which is really all she/they have agreed to do.

Off hand a gag order against you should not likely stop you from filing libel charges if their public postings libel your good name in anyway.

If I was you I would indeed see a lawyer and perhaps have him send a nasty legal letter threatening legal actions if anything they post is in any way a libel of your good name.

But short of that I would forget the matter and go on with my life.

See a lawyer in any case for your peace of mind.

You agreed to the confidentiality agreement, in return for charges being dropped, apparently because you felt it was in your best interest to do so.

It sounds like you were out-lawyered. Why did you agree to the confidentiality agreement if they had no evidence or testimony to back up charges against you? Were you represented by an attorney?

Lawyers, and their clients, manipulate the legal system all the time, but, in the instance you describe, they did it with your full cooperation.

If you feel your reputation was damaged by a maliciously false criminal charge, your recourse is in civil court where you can sue her for damages. But, the burden will be on you to show that her charge was false, and that it was damaging to you.

If, as a result of a civil action, you can prove her criminal complaint was false, you can give that information to law enforcement and let them decide whether they want to charge her for filing a false complaint--that decision is up to them.

Speak to a civil attorney. They should be willing to give you a free consult.

As we all know Firefly protection orders are use more often then not to get a leg up on a former partner and there is no real punishment for filing falsely.

Great way/tool for example in getting your partner out of a home that is jointly own and for getting temporary custody of children and so on.

Still as I said a gag order/agreement would not stop the filing of a civil suit for libel if that was what she was doing or thinking of doing.

Other then that in my opinion he should just go on with his life, but it would be worth his while to see a lawyer so he can get an expert opinion on the subject.

Oh and the gag agreement for that matter may or may not be valid as written so that would be useful matter to check into.

A party put under duress can hardly be considered to be fully cooperating.

The state of Texas distinguishes between Protective Orders (to try to prevent domestic violence) and Restraining Orders (which affect conduct between the parties during a divorce).

It is much easier to get Restraining Orders than Protective Orders in Texas. The person who is the object of the Protective Order must have already committed one or more acts of violence--and there must be evidence to support that, and the standard of proof is relatively high.

I am frankly a little curious how JTT had turned this thread subject into an attack on the American government and it foreign policies however not enough to read his nonsense.

He apparently did fully cooperate with agreeing to a confidentiality agreement--he was not under duress to make that agreement--he had other options.

He simply could have appeared in court and asserted that there was no justification for the charge of assault/violence on his part which was given in the application for the Protective Order. He could have forced her to provide evidence of his prior assaultive behavior--which he tells us she didn't have, and would be unable to provide. And she apparently had not even testified to any assaultive behavior on his part.

So, did he respond in court to her allegations at a Protective Order hearing? If not, why not? That was his other option and, particularly if her allegations about him were false or could not be substantiated by evidence, it might have been the better option. If he didn't appear in court, to contest her allegations, he would have been tacitly cooperating with her desire to obtain the Protective Order.

We may differ in how we see being "under duress" or see being "fully cooperating" in this particular situation. If he had options, as he likely did have, he wasn't "under duress" to choose one option over the other--he didn't have to agree to the confidentiality agreement. By agreeing to it, I see him as being "fully cooperating" in an arrangement he felt was in his best interests.

He went along with what her lawyer wanted and is now complaining about it after the fact. He didn't have to allow himself to be manipulated in that way--he could have responded to her allegations in court, and further pointed out, in court, that she was trying to use a false allegation of assault to get him to agree to a confidentiality agreement. Complaining about it now, and complaining about how she used the legal system to her advantage, seems rather pointless. He had the option of handling it differently at the time.