Not yet 3 strikes, but You are OUT!

Movie and television stars are not the only people to get in the news for incidents of domestic violence. The New York Post reported that New York Mets relief pitcher Fernando Rodriguez, also known as K-Rod, has been evicted from his Long Island home.

Earlier this week, K-Rod, after pitching in a loss to the Colorado Rockies, was heard yelling at his girlfriend Daian Peña. Peña’s father, Carlos, tried intervene in the fight between Daian and K-Rod at Citifield, where the Mets play. K-Rod then began a foulmouthed tirade against Daian, the mother of his children, within hearing of other players’ families.

Criminal proceedings were initiated against K-Rod in Queens, New York (the county in New York where the incident took place). Rodriguez plead not guilty to third-degree assault and second-degree harassment. He was later released on $5,000 bail. Finding K-Rod’s family was not safe at home, the judge issued restraining orders prevents K-Rod from entering the home he shared with Daian, their children and her father, or from visiting the children without permission from Family Court.

Under Pennsylvania law, the case could have been brought as a civil domestic violence matter, in addition to being brought as a criminal case. Even if the house were not in the names of K-Rod’s girlfriend or father, under Pennsylvania law, K-Rod still could be evicted from the home. Pennsylvania law provides that a person can be evicted from a home under the Protection from Abuse Act, if K-rod had a duty to support someone in that household. Since K-Rod would have a duty to support the children, and because the children were staying in the house with their mother, Daian, he could have been evicted,

K-Rod has not legal obligation to support his girlfriend. Nor does he have an obligation to support her father. Therefore, if there were no children, under the Pennsylvania Protection from Abuse Act, Rodriguez could not have been evicted. Incidentally, since the Pennsylvania Protection from Act protects current and former intimate partners and people living in the same household, both Daian Peña and her father Carlos could have brought an action under the Pennsylvania Protection from Abuse Act against Rodriguez.

The Court did not wait for 3 strikes before evicting K-Rod. He was out on his first offense. Under Pennsylvania law, a final Protection from Abuse Order can include a provision for eviction can last for up to three (3) years. That’s a lot of away games.

[The post-script on this posting is that according to this article, K-Rod is out for the rest of the season due to an injury he sustained during his fight with his girlfriend’s father.