Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

When a party does not appear at a Florida domestic violence injunction hearing, what happens? If the petitioner is able to present sufficient and credible evidence of domestic violence, it is possible for the court to enter an order in the respondent’s absence. This issue arose in the case Boucher v. Warren, 4D19-356 (Fla. 4th DCA March 4, 2020).

The parties were married, and during their marriage, the wife alleged specific incidents of domestic violence that included battery. Some of the incidents were 2-3 years prior to the date the wife filed her petition for injunction against domestic violence while only one was more recent - the husband allegedly threatened to kill her. At the final hearing on the petition, only the wife and her lawyer appeared. The wife testified about the history of the parties’ marriage which included the husband allegedly grabbing the wife by the throat in front of the parties’ child, and punching and kicking her. The wife presented photos of her injuries from these incidents. The trial court focused on whether or not there had been any more recent incidents other than that alleged regarding the husband’s threat to kill the wife. The wife testified regarding an incident at the parties’ child’s school during which the husband allegedly aggressively revved his engine at her and followed her in his vehicle until she threatened to call the police.

Noting that many of the incidents alleged were too remote in time and that the more recent incidents did not rise to the level of domestic violence, the trial court denied the injunction. The wife appealed and the ruling was reversed. First, while the appellate court acknowledged that usually an isolated instance of violence that preceded the filing of the petition by years will not be enough to support an injunction in the absence of current allegations, it reasoned this case “did not involve a single ‘isolated incident’ of domestic violence, but several previous violent acts by [the husband] against [the wife].”

The appellate court further held “[. . .] [H]ere there was an uncontroverted history of physical domestic violence, coupled with a recent verbal threat to kill, which was not a vague or ‘general’ threat, but a specific threat to put bullets in [the wife’s] head. Although [the husband] texted [the wife] shortly after making his threat acknowledging that he overreacted, uncontroverted evidence was also presented of [the husband’s] overt actions in December 2018, occurring shortly after his probation for a criminal domestic violence act against [the wife] ended and just before the parties' divorce mediation. In the December incident, [the husband] followed [the wife] in his car while driving erratically and in an intimidating manner. Although the trial court reasoned that [the husband’s] December 2018 conduct did not establish a reasonable fear of imminent domestic violence because [the husband] did not have any communication with [the wife] during the incident and that he left without doing or saying anything aggressively, the evidence does not support the trial court's reasoning. The undisputed testimony was that [the husband] did go after [the wife] with his car—following her down a one-lane road, driving in an objectively erratic and intimidating manner. Additionally, although the incident was relatively short, contrary to the trial court's statement, the undisputed evidence was that [the husband] did scream something at [the wife] before speeding off. There was no evidence to dispute the aggressive nature of [the husband’s] conduct.”

Safety is a top priority for victims of domestic violence. A Florida civil restraining order is just one way of protecting yourself. After you call the police for emergency situations, contact a Miami domestic violence lawyer to go over your options in protecting yourself.