The never-ending dvro

The Orange County, California court system distinguishes itself even more.

Part of a letter Max Black’s daughter wrote to him.

Christie Black first filed for a domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) on March 17, 2023.

Her order is likely to be denied, but it’s not the outcome which is the biggest problem, but the process.

Last month, Christy was issued an order unfavorable to her.

The judge, Adrianne Marshack, didn’t use the term, but she denied the DVRO, in part, because she believed that Christie was alienating the kids from her ex-husband.

The laws governing DVRO’s vary from state to state, but DVRO’s are a response to an incident or multiple incidents which put the petitioner’s safety, or even life, in immediate danger.

Judge Marshack from a hearing in 2023

As such, to wait over two years before issuing a decision seems to fly in the face of the purpose.

Christie joined Richard Luthmann and me on The Unknown a few weeks back to talk about this arduous affair. Cued up.

Among the craziness in the DVRO, Christie said, “The judge invoked the fifth for my ex.”

The fifth amendment right against self-incrimination is a Constitutional right, but generally, an individual invokes it for themselves. In this case, the judge invoked it for the defendant.

Christie told us that it took approximately six months to serve her ex-husband.

Her ex-husband has since moved out of state and was difficult to locate, Christie told us.

I reached out to his lawyer, Angel Camino, but he didn’t respond.

Christie told us that numerous continuances listed on the Orange County Clerk of Court’s website were due to her inability to serve for months.

Even with that delay, having the DVRO process dragging into May 2025 seems unacceptable.

Christie told us that the DVRO was wrapped up into her child custody case, which was still ongoing in the ninth year of the divorce.

She said that hearings were delayed, while other matters were addressed.

That still only partially explains why the case dragged on for over two years.

Christie also insisted on presenting abuse allegations which went back over a decade.

Judge Marshack listed some of the allegations in her June 2025 order.

Christie said it was important to present this long history for context, but this seems dubious for a restraining order.

Ostensibly, Christie told us that her ex=husband put himself on her homeowner’s insurance despite no longer living in the home and giving up all financial interests.

This caused a delay in insurance payment after a flood.

Photo from inside Christie’s home in May 2023, after the flooding. This came during a time when insurance payments were delayed after her ex-husband had himself put on the insurance.

Christie also told us that there were incidents of alleged stalking.

That seems simple enough. The court should have heard testimony on these items.

Instead, evidence which went back over a decade was introduced. Along with that, Christie introduced experts.

This caused further delays, especially as the court put off hearings.

The case turned into a clusterfuck.

Post-script

Check out the fundraiser for Orange County.

Here are the previous articles in the series. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8. Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25. Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36, Part 37, Part 38, Part 39, Part 40, Part 41, Part 42, Part 43, Part 44, Part 45, Part 46, Part 47, Part 48, Part 49, Part 50, Part 51, Part 52, Part 53, Part 54, Part 55, Part 56, Part 57, Part 58, and Part 59.