Confused

Hello, I am a mother of a 7 1/2 infant whose father is trying to depict me as mentally unstable. This man has been emotionally/verbally abusive me to in the past and borders on being physically abusive. He would charge at me in an attempt to intimidate and scare me. He has actually struck me on the side of the head and made my ear ring on one occasion. We've had the police out to the house on several occasions for domestic disputes. I am currently in the courts with him. Neither of us have an attorney, however, I'm thinking of getting one tomorrow. He has taken our child on weekends to the ex-wife's house against my wishes while I was working. He has said to my baby girl "your mommy's crazy" and called her sexy another time.

He had me so worked up that I called my sister in another state and told her that I was so beaten down by him that I just wanted to escape. Use a gun and just shoot myself, but I didn't mean it literally. She called the police on me and when I got home, they were on my doorstep. I told them that it was a miscommunication and misunderstanding. I proceeded to tell them about our relationship troubles, and started to cry. The policeman took me in on a 5150. I was released 4 hours later. No just cause to hold me, they deemed me not a threat to myself/others. What are my chances of getting custody of my daughter? This man has taken her from me and I haven't seen her in over a week and a half. I think he has intentions of getting custody of her and moving back in with his ex-wife. This way, he can get child support from me.

Please help.