Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

If a party urges another party to self-harm, does this entitle the victim to a domestic violence injunction in Florida? In a case in which a husband was accused of urging his wife to harm herself by placing weapons within her reach and suggesting that she use them on herself, this was an issue. The case is Thomas v. Li, 4D2023-1437 (Fla. 4th DCA July 17, 2024).

During the parties’ marriage, the wife alleged incidents in which the husband placed knives within her reach while taunting the wife about her history of cutting herself. She also alleged that the husband placed a loaded gun on a table in front of her and told her he hoped she would use it on herself. The wife moved out of the parties’ shared residence shortly after this, and two months later, the Husband moved out of state. Before the husband moved, the wife alleged he sent emails to her despite her request that he stop communicating with her. The emails discussed the end of the parties’ relationship but did not threaten the wife. The wife went to the marital residence to retrieve her belongings after the husband moved, and alleged that she found her items with notes written on them from the husband, but none were found to be threatening. The trial court, after considering these allegations, entered an injunction against the husband, and he appealed.

From the outset, the appellate court took issue with the timing of the wife’s injunction filing. The court noted “Here, the proof presented at the final hearing established that, since the parties’ physical separation in October 2022, they have neither cohabitated nor seen one another. In fact, they lived apart for almost five months before [the wife] filed her petition and almost eight months before issuance of the injunction.”

The court concluded “In addition, the emails upon which [the wife] relies in support of her apparent fear that [the husband] might return to Florida and harm her were sent in November and December 2022, almost three months before she filed for the injunction and almost six months before entry of the injunction itself. [. . .] Moreover, while we recognize that ‘[t]here does not appear to be a bright line rule’ as to what actions or conduct should ‘be considered too remote in time to support entry of a domestic violence injunction,’ Dickson, 338 So. 3d at 1005, we hold that in the absence of any proof of recent threats coupled with overt action directed to [the wife] from [the husband], the trial court abused its discretion in determining that [the wife] was a victim of domestic violence or that she had reasonable cause to believe that she was in imminent danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence, as required by section 741.30.”

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