INSIDE EDITION talks to a woman who was brutally beaten by her ex-husband during divorce proceedings right in a judge’s chambers.
It's hard to see the beauty beyond the bruises, but Catie Scott-Gonzalez looks very different now than she did before she had her day in divorce court.
Scott-Gonzalez talks to INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd about her husband, ex-marine Paul Gonzalez.
The rocky road of their four-year marriage brought them face-to-face for a divorce hearing in the chambers of Judge Ronald Rothschild in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
"I'm not even able to look at my own face. It was supposed to be the end," said Scott-Gonzalez.
INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd asked, "Were you at all nervous about seeing him face-to-face in the same room again?"
"I was extremely nervous. I didn't sleep at all the night before," replied Scott-Gonzalez.
She says her husband strongly objected to the judge's rulings on visitation and child support for their two small children. Then suddenly, he attacked her.
"He came from behind me and with his left hand put his hand around my neck and started to choke me out and with his right hand he stated punching me repeatedly on the side of my head," said Scott-Gonzalez.
Boyd asked, "Do you ask yourself, how could this have happened in a judge's chambers?"
"I'm baffled. I have no understanding of how this could have happened," said Scott-Gonzalez.
Paul Gonzalez had to be tased as a dozen bailiffs ran into the room and struggled to restrain him.
Scott-Gonzalez's mom, Doreen, heard the racket and rushed into the judge's chambers to administer first aid.
Doreen told INSIDE EDITION, "She said, 'Mommy, where am I? I don't know where I am.' It was heartbreaking."
Scott-Gonzalez was rushed to the hospital.
"I have two broken bones in my nose," said Scott-Gonzalez.
When Gonzalez appeared before another judge on battery charges, his bond was set at $1 million.
The judge said, "The allegations are indeed extremely serious and shocking."
Scott-Gonzalez's physical wounds will heal, but her fears may last forever.
Scott-Gonzalez said, "He's in jail right now, and I am still unable to sleep because I'm confident he'll come find me and he will kill me."
Scott-Gonzalez is being helped by a local group called Women in Distress that helps battered women. For more information go to womenindistress.org.