Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

What is necessary to get an injunction entered against dating violence in Florida? According to the Florida Statutes, dating violence means violence between individuals who have or have had a continuing and significant relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. The dating relationship must have existed within the past six months, the nature of the relationship must have been characterized by the expectation of affection or sexual involvement between the parties, and the frequency and type of interaction must have included that the persons have been involved over time and on a continuous basis during the course of the relationship. This type of injunction was at issue in the case Lentino v. McKinney, 5D21-2155 (Fla. 5th DCA June 3, 2022).

The trial court entered an injunction against the accused based on two incidents - a traffic stop and a phone call. No detail is given in this case opinion about these incidents, but the accused appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence to uphold an injunction against him. As part of his argument, he took issue with the trial court allowing testimony about the traffic stop because this allegation was not in the alleged victim’s petition and was brought up for the first time at trial. Even though the accused objected to this incident being considered at the hearing, the trial court overruled his objection.

The appellate court agreed with the accused, that it was improper to allow the traffic stop incident to be discussed at the hearing. It held “The trial court overruled [the accused’s] objection, which was error because consideration of the unpled and otherwise unnoticed allegations constituted a due process violation.” The court went on “As to the remaining incident relied upon by the trial court, we conclude the evidence supporting the phone call is legally 3 insufficient to support the trial court’s conclusion that Ms. McKinney is a victim in imminent danger of another act of dating violence.”

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