Granite State Times

A recent domestic violence ruling, regarding a judge’s decision to deny a protective order for a woman who was allegedly shot by her ex-boyfriend, has been ruled a "reasonable application" of state law.

The victim was critically injured after she was shot Nov. 15 in Salem, Massachusetts, by her ex-boyfriend, a New Hampshire resident. He later died from what police said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to U.S. News and World Report.

A Twitter user named Cassandra Carbee said that the law was out of touch. “Not all domestic violence is physical or visible to other people. The law needs to be changed to better fit reality,” she tweeted Nov. 30.

According to U.S. News and World Report, the victim was granted a temporary restraining order against the man in September, citing that she was the victim of sexual and physical abuse while they were in together for a period of years.

Circuit Judge Polly Hall denied the woman's petition for a permanent order a month later, writing, “The court cannot find that the defendant’s conduct constitutes a credible present threat to plaintiff’s safety,” according to U.S. News and World Report.

Hall explained that her conclusion was based on the fact that there was no evidence of physical violence committed by the man since 2016. She also mentioned that his threats were related to reputational or emotional harm, and she believed that the victim had a "generalized fear" of the man, rather than a specific physical threat.

The denial of the order and subsequent shooting prompted an internal review from a state committee, which found that Hall had “represented a reasonable application of current New Hampshire law to the facts of the case.”