Sanctions Upheld in Two Cases with False Abuse Claims
In Peters v. Pennington (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-07-0215, 42 pp.), the court addressed a panopoly of issues arising from a three-week domestic trial in Mecklenburg County that featured as many as 24 witnesses who testified as to whether Marco Peters abused his sons, as alleged by his ex-wife, Lisa Pennington.
James, McElroy & Diehl attorney Preston Odom III, who represented Peters, said the case represented one in which a party “used the allegation of abuse as a tactic in a divorce case.” Citing the Lamm decision, Odom warned that when “blatantly unsubstantiated allegations are made in that context, sanctions are proper.”
