BECKLEY, WV (L00TPRESS) – A Domestic Violence Protective order filed against Raleigh County Prosecutor, Ben Hatfield has been dismissed in Raleigh County court on Wednesday.
The involved parties convened at the Raleigh County Courthouse on Wednesday morning regarding a DVP filed against Hatfield which representation for both the petitioner and respondent confirmed had been dismissed during the hearing.
“Yet again we have a dismissal of this domestic violence petition. The final order says that she is not a victim of sexual assault, domestic violence or any domestic violence is that’s defined in code,” said Brandon Steele, who is acting as Hatfield’s legal representation for this case. Steele indicated that dismissal of the petition was voluntarily called for by the petitioner herself and confirmed reports of a second order having been filed on Tuesday evening.
“She moved voluntarily dismiss her own petition,” Steele explained. “She went last night and filed for another DVP with another hearing coming up [for] that. So, it’s interesting that someone, last night, goes and files a different DVP and dismisses one this morning voluntarily.”
Representation for the petitioner, Tim Lupardus also confirmed that the original petition had been voluntarily dismissed in court on Wednesday. While stating that he did not wish to provide further comment on ongoing litigation, the attorney did appeal for members of the public interjecting themselves in the proceedings by way of social media to refrain from further involvement as the court system determines the appropriate course of action with regard to the matter.
“She dropped the original petition,” said Lupardus. “This case has a lot of attention, but it’s really no different than any other domestic matter and it would be better if some of the commenters who are well intentioned on social media might just lay off of it and let these two sort out what the court does with it. It’s tough to go through a domestic anyway on either side, and this one is much tougher because of the attention that the case has gotten.”
Lupardus also indicated that the aforementioned second protective order filed on Tuesday is expected to be addressed in a hearing scheduled for September 26, 2024, by the Raleigh County Magistrate.
