Dear Justicehunter,

Here's one for your research....

My wife and her sister have been in a blood feud for years. Sibling rivalry gone amuck. My wife's name is Valerie; she is 31. Her sister is Tracy, who is 29.

Several years ago, Tracy (the sister) was married to another fella, and was cheating on him. Badly. Valerie figured it out, and told the guy. He came home and caught Tracy in the act. They were soon divorced.

Tracy, for her part, has slept with, or attempted to sleep with, every one of Valerie's boyfirends or 2 ex husbands. Valerie and I have been together for 2 years now, and Tracy and Valerie are still arguing. The biggest issue is that Tracy wants her father's side of the family (the rich side) to herself, and has done everything she could to drive a wedge between her father and Valerie. ("Daddy likes me better than you. Nyah nyah nyah")

One of her tactics was to begin making not-so-subtle passes at me, to the point where I had to ask Valerie (my wife) to never let Tracy be alone with me, and to always keep eyes on me during any family gatherings. The last time she got me alone, I had come home and Tracy was in my living room, in a bikini, and flashed her breasts at me. I left the house as quick as I could, and went outside to Valerie and her mom, in the parking lot.

Last August, at the mom's 50th birthday party, Valerie and I were at Tracy's house early to help set up for the birthday party. Atr one point, Tracy asked me out to the shed to help move some tables and chairs out to the yard. I gave Val a sign to watch, which she did, coming out to the back porch so she could keep an eye on Tracy. Once in the shed, Tracy "tripped", and fell on me, giggling. The shed was only 6x10, so there was no room. It also has 2 large windows on the front, and glass in the door, so Valerie saw everything. I stood Tracy back up, and turned back around to grab the tables and chairs. That was it.

3 weeks later, Val and Tracy were arguing about something online, and Tracy got mad and told Valerie that I had made a pass at her in the shed. Val knew better, because she was watching us, and told Tracy she was a liar. It escalated, to the point that Tracy threatened to call the police and report me for sexually assaulting her. The next day, she did just that. The detective didn;t really believe her, and sent her home to "think about it", telling her that if she really wanted to file the charges, she needed to come back Monday. Tracy returned Monday and filed charges.

About a month later, I received a letter from the Massachusetts court system saying I had an outstanding warrant against me ( I lived in Connecticut at the time). I went to the court, presented myself, and was promptly arrested and jailed on $100,000 bail!

In the police report, she claims I sexually assaulted her, twice, grabbing her breasts and forcibly kissing her. She claimed I grabbed her breasts so hard they left bruises. No one has seen the bruises, not even her husband. Her behavior during the rest of te party was just as flirty as before this supposed assault; there are even photos from the party of her smiling and laughing with me. No matter. I sat in jail for a month before friends could raise the $10,000 cash to get me out.

Since then, my family and I (Valerie, me, our 22 month old son, and 9 month old daughter) have moved about 400 miles away, but I am still going back and forth to court over this, at great expense. So far, this has cost me over $20,000, and many sleepless nights. To add to the stress, Valerie is pregnant again, and it is a very difficult pregnancy, since her blood pressure has gone way up, and she has developed blood clots in her lungs. Not a good time.

I am deathly afraid of going to trial on this. No matter that I am innocent, it's her word against mine, and I don't want to go to prison, especially with my wife being on bedrest. Also, I would be going as a sex offender... Kiss of death. For all these reasons, I am seriously considering trying to get a plea bargain, for something like simple assault or whatever, with probation. This very idea sickens me, though; I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!

Meanwhile, Tracy still is not taking her med's that she is supposed to (Colonopin, and other anti-depressants and anti-psychotics); she sells them for marajuana. I can;t prove any of this, of course, but the end result is she is very unstable. Her own family has told her they don't believe her either, which just makes her more stubborn. ("I'll show you! I'll show ALL of you!...")

Nothing I can do about this. No clue as to what to do next. Worried to death for the health of my wife and the safety of my family.

Is this something you can use? Do you need any more details? Let me know.