Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

Can old incidents support a Florida domestic violence injunction? If alleged incidents of violence are too remote in time, a Florida domestic violence injunction might not be entered. This was an issue in the case Padilla v. Pickett, 4D2023-0939 (Fla. 4th DCA May 15, 2024).

The petitioner in this case filed an injunction against the father of her child, alleging the father committed domestic violence against the child. A temporary ex parte injunction was entered, but when the hearing occurred, the petitioner admitted the act of violence alleged in the petition occurred years before. The remaining allegations which were more recent only alleged verbal abuse and harassment. The trial court denied the petition and the petitioner appealed.

The appellate court affirmed, holding “We affirm. The only incident of physical violence was stale and cannot form the basis of an injunction. See Battaglia v. Thompson, 203 So. 3d 1018, 1019 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). The remaining attachments to the petition do not show any further incidents of physical violence, and the verbal abuse reported in the attachment is insufficient to warrant an injunction. See Mitchell v. Mitchell, 198 So. 3d 1096, 1100 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016) (finding ‘verbal violence’ and ‘general harassment’ insufficient). The trial court’s dismissal without prejudice was not an abuse of discretion, as the petition itself was insufficient.”

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