Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

A domestic violence injunction can be appealed, but what happens when the injunction expires while the appeal is pending? Usually, expiration of the injunction renders the appeal moot, which means since the injunction is no longer in effect, there is no issue to appeal anymore. This was a topic in the case Waite v. Chapman, 2D19-4680 (Fla. 2d DCA June 18, 2021).

The victim in this case filed a petition for injunction against stalking, alleging the accused stalked her at her home and harassed her through calls, text messages and emails, among other allegations. After a hearing, the trial court entered a final judgment, prohibiting the accused of contacting the victim or going within 500 feet of her home or place of employment. The injunction was set to expire in November 2020. The accused appealed.

The appellate court issued an order for the accused to explain why the appeal should not be dismissed as moot since the injunction had already expired while the appeal was pending. The court noted that a case “is moot when the controversy has been so fully resolved that a judicial determination can have no actual effect. A case is 'moot' when it presents no actual controversy or when the issues have ceased to exist.” (Internal citations omitted). The court also noted “There are three exceptions to the mootness rule: (1) when questions of great public importance are implicated; (2) when issues are likely to recur; and (3) where collateral legal consequences affecting the rights of a party flow from the issue in the case.”

The court ultimately decided none of the three exceptions applied to this case and cited another case which holds “the third mootness exception applies when the injunction is for the protection against domestic violence.” Schedule a consultation with a Miami domestic violence lawyer to understand how the law may apply to your case.