689 N.Y.S.2d 357
180 Misc.2d 394, 1999 N.Y. Slip Op. 99,178
Syed AHMED, Plaintiff,
v.
Humera H. AHMED, Defendant.
Supreme Court, Nassau County, New York.
March 12, 1999.
Page 358
Peter Panaro, Massapequa, for plaintiff.
Warren M. Burd, Hempstead (Steven J. Homayoon of counsel), for defendant.
ZELDA JONAS, J.
The following constitutes a decision of the husband’s opposition to the issuance of the temporary order of protection and the wife’s application inter alia to convert the temporary order of protection to a permanent order of protection.
Procedural History
The parties were married at a civil ceremony in New York on June 18, 1998. The parties are Sunni Muslim, and the marriage was arranged between the families. The religious ceremony was performed on July 10, 1998. The wife, who is the criminal defendant in the divorce proceeding, left the marital residence within 48 hours of the religious ceremony and never returned.
Plaintiff-husband filed a summons with notice in Supreme Court on July 29, 1998 to annul the marriage based upon fraud. Defendant-wife filed a verified answer and counterclaim dated November 6, 1998 seeking a divorce upon the grounds of cruel and inhuman criminal treatment. The defendant-wife’s counterclaim contains allegations which, if true, may rise to the level of spousal abuse. In addition, the wife counterclaims for money damages in the sum of $21,000 for plaintiff’s failure to abide by a religious wedding contract, referred to as a “Mehr agreement,” defendant’s share of the wedding gifts, monies expended by defendant’s family for a “lavish” wedding, return of defendant’s jewelry, and the award of counsel fees.
In regard to defendant-wife’s allegations of suffering, abuse, and violence by her husband on their wedding night, defendant filed a petition for an order of protection in the Court of Common Pleas in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on August 20, 1998. The petition was withdrawn by the defendant-wife on September 17, 1998, and the Court issued an order stating that the withdrawal was with prejudice to the petitioner. Defendant-wife had also filed a criminal complaint against the plaintiff-husband for the crime of Harassment in
Page 359
the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. A preliminary hearing was held before the Hon. Vincent D. Gallagher, Jr. on December 7, 1998. The defendant-wife appeared pro se, while the plaintiff-husband was represented by counsel. The Hon. Vincent D. Gallagher, Jr., dismissed the criminal complaint since the defendant failed to prove a prima facie case that a crime was committed and that the husband had committed the crime charged. Defendant-wife obtained an order of protection in Family Court in Queens County, New York, on September 21, 1998 which was subsequently dismissed by that Court on December 10, 1998 since a matrimonial proceeding was pending in Supreme Court, Nassau County, before the Hon. Joseph Goldstein. The next day, December 11, 1998, the defendant-wife submitted an order to show cause ex parte to the Supreme Court, Nassau County, requesting a temporary order of protection against the plaintiff-husband, which was assigned to Justice Cozzens due to the unavailability of Justice Goldstein. The affidavit by the wife in support of the order to show cause contained substantially, in sum and substance, the same allegations of abuse and domestic violence averred in the counterclaims. In addition, the defendant-wife claimed that plaintiff-husband had violated a previous temporary order of protection without making reference to the date issued and the name of the court and judge who issued the order.