Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

How recent must allegations be to support the entry of a Florida domestic violence injunction? There does not seem to be a definite answer to this question, but Florida case law indicates incidents that occur a year or more before the petition is filed may be too remote in time to support the entry of an injunction.

In the case Fingers v. Fingers, 5D22-570 (Fla. 5th DCA January 20, 2023), the former wife filed a petition for injunction against domestic violence alleging that ten months before, the former husband threatened her stating he would not “need a silencer to kill [her], [she] would never see [him] coming.” She alleged that he made threats against her before that time as well. The former wife acknowledged she never saw the former husband in Florida where she moved to after the parties’ divorce was finalized in Missouri the previous year, and that the former husband had not attempted to contact her directly since she moved to Florida. The trial court entered an injunction against the former husband and he appealed.

The appellate court noted “Although there is no bright-line rule as to what is considered ‘too remote in time to support the entry of a domestic violence injunction,’ courts seem to agree that incidents that occurred one year prior to filing the petition are insufficient to support the issuance of an injunction if there are no other allegations of current violence or imminent danger.” The court concluded “Without necessarily establishing or creating a bright-line rule, we conclude that, under the facts of this case, any alleged threats that occurred before January 2021 were too remote in time to support the injunction resulting from Former Wife's petition filed in early January 2022. Consequently, the March 2021 incident is the only event that could support the issuance of the Injunction. However, we do not find that the evidence surrounding the March 2021 event alone satisfies Former Wife’s burden. Specifically, the uncontested evidence is that Former Husband never physically harmed Former Wife either during or after their marriage. Additionally, the evidence establishes that Former Wife never actually saw Former Husband in Florida after April 2021. Furthermore, the record does not contain any evidence of Former Husband making current threats or presenting any physical danger to Former Wife after she moved to Florida. Therefore, there is no competent, substantial evidence supporting the trial court’s finding that Former Wife had an objectively reasonable fear that she was in imminent danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence.”

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