Domestic Violence Defendant Accepts Boyfriend’s Courtroom Marriage Proposal
A judge in Syracuse, N.Y., had to alter an order of protection last week to allow a domestic violence defendant to answer a courtroom marriage proposal by her boyfriend.
The defendant, Nicole Osbourne, answered yes, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports. Osbourne’s boyfriend, Theodore Murphy, had asked Osbourne’s defense lawyer to relay the marriage proposal when Osbourne made a court appearance on a felony assault charge. Murphy was sitting in the courtroom at the time.
Osbourne is also a defendant in a domestic violence case, and an order or protection directs her to have no contact with Murphy. On the prosecution’s motion, Judge Steve Dougherty altered the order of protection to allow noncriminal contact with Murphy, paving the way for Osbourne to answer.
Dougherty cautioned that he could not perform the wedding because he is presiding over Osbourne’s cases. In any event, no immediate wedding is planned since Osbourne is still in custody.
