Catherine and I have been incredibly happily married for almost 13 years. We are soul mates and best friends. My 33 year old step-son lives with us. He's a great guy, and an important part of our family. He is severly mentally disabled. He was diagnosed with chronic paranoid schizophrenia and manic mood disorder at age 18. He takes alot of medications and is usually stable. On Friday night, December 16, 2016, Catherine and I came home from a late dinner in Midtown. Catherine went to check on her son, only to find out he was having a severe psychotic break and manic episode. My step-son, who is 6' tall and 310 lbs., suddenly and violently attacked my wife. He charged at her, picked her up by the waist, then threw her up into the air, across the den, causing her to crash down on a chair, then onto my drill box that was on the floor, then finally landing on the tile floor, Next, he jumped on top of her, pinning her down. I was able to get him off of her, but then he turned and tried to attack me. I was able to get away but was trapped in the dining room. Catherine got up and attempted to keep her son away from me while I called the police. In the meantime. her son, in a fit of rage, attempted a second attack on my wife. She defended herself and me, which allowed her and I to escape out the front door. The police arrived within a couple of minutes. Catherine is bruised and swollen all over her body. My step-son had a small red bump on his forehead. My step-son was taken to a mental hospital and my wife was arrested and taken to jail for defending herself. She was charged with domestic violence assault. Evidently, in domestic situations, anyone who's getting physical automatically goes to jail now, except if you're mentally ill, then you go to a hospital. The police said they were going to "Baker Act" him, which we've done before. But instead, they told him if he would voluntarilly go, it would go better for him. So, my step-son was able to sign himself out of the mental hospital at 7am the next morning. My wife sat in jail until early Sunday morning. Then, because the assault was "domestic" my wife cannot return home. She has to stay with a friend in Plantation. This BREAKS MY HEART! Catherine has made ths house a home, filled with love, patience, kindness, beauty, and welcoming to anyone in need! Now, she's not even allowed to sleep in her own bed...our bed, water her plants, do her gardening, love on her cats (they're my cats too!), and she has to carry her 14 year old, blind, deaf dog, Winston, with her everywhere because my step-son has threatened to kill the dog if it stays. I've been staying in a motel close to the house so I can feed the cats every morning and night. I've had to take a friend or a cop in with me so that I can be safe. Yesterday, December 21, my step-son was finally "Baker Acted" and sent to a mental hospital. He will not be coming back this time, EVER.

When my wife was arrested, I had to use every dime we had, which wasn't much, to get her out of jail, pay for my motel room every night, and get a lawyer for her. The legal retainer is $5000 but I only had $200 left, plus my entire paycheck of $800 that I gave him on Monday, just to get started right away on her case. I have $40 left. We have no money for Christmas gifts, a Christmas tree or Christmas dinner. Since I gave my whole paycheck to a lawyer, I can't pay my utility or cable bills. Our gas expenses for our vehicle just trippled too!

This law firm is one of the best. They are former Florida State Prosecutors, and very experienced defense attorneys in domestic cases. I have to give them the remaining $4000 by Jan. 3, 2017, when my wife's first hearing is. We still have to pay for all other legal fees not included in the retainer (an estimated $5000 more) such as court costs, filing fees, subpoenas, process servers, stenographers, deposition costs, etc. I have also missed 3 days of work, and more missed days to come. I live paycheck to paycheck. My wife can't work right now, especially since her office is in our house. If the lawyers can get the case dropped, then I won't need the extra $5000 for all of those other fees and expenses.

Any amount, small or large will help so much. If you can't help right now, maybe you can forward this to someone else who might be interested in helping me get justice for my wife, Catherine.

Thank you and God Bless You. Merry Christmas and May God Bless You and Your Family in the Coming Year!