Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

A Florida domestic violence injunction is available to a person who is the victim of abuse and is in reasonable fear that the abuse will continue. The incidents alleged cannot be too remote in time, and must put a reasonable person in fear of becoming a victim of domestic violence. An appeal of an injunction was an issue in the case McGuire v. Boscan, 3D20-1419 (Fla. 3d DCA December 1, 2021).

The parties to this case were previously in a relationship and lived together. The former girlfriend filed a petition for injunction against domestic violence in March 2020 alleging incidents of violence that occurred in 2017 and 2020 committed by her former boyfriend. At a trial on the petition, the parties offered conflicting accounts of what happened in 2017. As to the 2020 incidents, the former girlfriend testified generally that she saw the former boyfriend at places she happened to be, but that he did not speak to her or approach her. Based on the testimony offered at the hearing, the court entered an injunction against the former boyfriend. He appealed.

The appellate court found the injunction was not supported by competent, substantial evidence and reversed. As the the 2017 incidents, the court found the former girlfriend was a victim of domestic violence at that time. However, the incident were too remote in time to support the entry of an injunction in 2020. As to the remaining incidents alleged in 2020, the court found that they did not support an injunction: “As such, when viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to [the former girlfriend], the evidence reflects that [the former boyfriend] and [the former girlfriend] coincidentally were at the same public places in February and March 2020. Further, following their chance encounters, [the former boyfriend] did nothing that would reasonably cause [the former girlfriend] to believe that she was in imminent danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence.”

Schedule your consultation with a Miami domestic violence lawyer to understand the next steps in your case.