Kuhn v. Kuhn


Facts: Plaintiff, Evonne (P), and her former husband (D) were embroiled in a bitterly contested divorce proceeding in the local circuit court of DuPage County. On April 17, 1998 a judgment of dissolution in the county court was entered. That same day, P filed a six count complaint under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 in this court. Under the first count, P claimed a VAWA action and under the remaining counts P claimed state tort claims under supplemental jurisdiction. P and D were married in 1996. One month later, D told P that he had had sex with another woman shortly before the parties were married. P wanted a divorce and as P attempted to leave the marital residence D restrained her and hit her in the fact with his hand. P got a black eye and bruises all over her body from the incident. Three months later, when P refused to have sex with D because she was tried, he became angry and forced her to have sex with him twice. Two months after that incident, D twice choked her the first time telling her that he was going to kill her and the second that if she did not get help, he was going to kill her. Nine months after the marriage, D struck P in the ear in a restaurant in Hawaii for no apparent reason. A year after the marriage, when D took a phone call and it turned out to be a process server, he again attacked P and twisted her little finger and broke it and then pinned P in her car until the process server arrived and served the papers. D moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) and filed a motion to request abstention on the VAWA cause of action.


Issue: Does the VAWA require P to sufficiently plead the underlying crime of criminal sexual assault when the VAWA defines a crime of violence as "an act or series of acts that would constitute a felony against the person ?

Holding: No. Motion denied.
The court denied defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiff's VAWA claims, holding:
although there might be some difficulty in determining whether other crimes, even crimes against the person, were “because of” or “on the basis of” the victim's gender, the court has little doubt that allegations of sexual assault or sexual exploitation crimes are allegations of crimes committed “because of” or “on the basis of” the victim's gender.


Analysis:The purpose of a 12(b)(6) motion is to test the sufficiency of the complaint, not to decide the merits of the case. A complaint must allege facts sufficiently setting forth the essential elements of the cause of action. The complaint must be construed in the light most favorable to P.