Articles Posted in Domestic Violence

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In family law disputes, particularly during contentious divorces or custody battles, it’s not uncommon for individuals to resort to various tactics in order to gain the upper hand. One of the most troubling and potentially damaging tactics is the weaponization of domestic violence allegations. If a court finds that a party maliciously alleged that their former spouse engaged in acts of domestic violence, it may impose punitive damages on the party, as discussed in a recent Florida ruling issued in a divorce case.  If you need assistance with a domestic violence issue, it is in your best interest to meet with a Miami domestic violence lawyer to determine your rights.

Case Background

It is alleged that the wife initiated an interlocutory appeal in response to a court order that allowed her husband to assert a punitive damages claim against her. This claim arose from the wife’s alleged malicious prosecution of a domestic violence complaint against her husband. Notably, the wife had submitted the domestic violence petition just a month after filing her petition for the dissolution of their marriage, and both cases were consolidated under the jurisdiction of the family court. Subsequently, the wife withdrew her domestic violence petition after the parties agreed to a no-contact order.

Reportedly, however, two years later, the husband took legal action by filing a complaint for malicious prosecution. In this complaint, he asserted that there existed a complete and utter lack of probable cause for the domestic violence injunction petition and contended that the sole purpose of the petition was to gain an advantage in their divorce proceedings. To substantiate his claims, the husband presented evidence, including testimony from a family friend who recalled the wife boasting about filing the petition. Additionally, he pointed out inconsistencies in her accounts of the alleged domestic violence and cited testimonies from police officers who had not observed any physical injuries on the wife. Continue reading ›

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The Florida courts regard allegations of domestic violence seriously and will impose any legal measures necessary to keep victims of domestic violence safe. Merely because a person accuses someone of engaging in acts of domestic violence does not mean that the courts will issue injunctions for protection against their alleged attacker, however. Instead, as illustrated in a recent ruling issued by a Florida court, the acts in question must, at a minimum, inspire an objectively reasonable fear of imminent harm. If you are the victim of domestic violence or have been accused of domestic violence by a former romantic partner, it is in your best interest to speak to an attorney about your rights.

Procedural Background of the Case

It is alleged that the husband and wife lived in Missouri; they divorced in October 2021, and the wife moved to Florida, where she filed for an injunction for protection against domestic violence against the husband. In her petition, she claimed that he had committed or threatened to commit domestic violence against her.

It is reported that the wife asserted that her daughter overheard the husband saying he had purchased a gun silencer in October 2020, and she feared that he would kill her. The wife also testified that in March 2021, the husband told her that he did not need a silencer to kill her. The wife admitted, however,  that she had never seen the husband in Florida and that he had never attempted to contact her directly. The trial court granted the injunction, and the husband appealed. Continue reading ›

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It is not uncommon for people in the process of ending their relationship to have heated battles. While arguments can be stressful, they should not cause a person to fear for their safety, and if they do, they may be grounds for seeking an injunction for protection from domestic violence. Recently, a Florida court discussed what constitutes satisfactory grounds for entering such an injunction in a case in which it ultimately reversed the trial court’s order. If you are a victim of domestic violence or were recently accused of abusive behavior, it is smart to speak to a Miami domestic violence attorney regarding your options.

History of the Case

It is alleged that the wife filed a petition for an injunction for protection against domestic violence against her husband. She stated she did so to get “space” from the husband after she advised him of her plans to seek a divorce. In her petition, she asserted that the husband verbally abused her, and sent her numerous text messages. She also claimed that he had punched a hole in a wall and kicked down a door after a disagreement.

Reportedly, though, the wife conceded that the husband had never threatened her and had never committed acts of physical violence against her. Regardless, the trial court ultimately granted the wife’s petition and entered an injunction against the husband. The husband appealed. Continue reading ›

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Just because you have a domestic violence injunction out against you, that doesn’t mean you lose all your rights, and it doesn’t mean that you are powerless to seek the aid of the courts if circumstances have changed in your case. So, even though that original injunction was entered, you can still take action. If you think you need the aid of the legal system, reach out to a knowledgeable South Florida family law attorney.

There are lots of reasons why restraining orders get entered. Sometimes, they may involve a case where the alleged abuser unwisely didn’t hire an attorney and didn’t show up to his hearing. Other times, they may involve someone who did commit the abuse alleged but who subsequently did not engage in any misconduct thereafter.

In both of those cases, the person who is the subject of the order may be someone who’s trying very hard to remain compliant at all times. If that’s you, one thing you may fear is the prospect of inadvertent non-compliance. That can happen in numerous ways, including, as was the circumstance in one recent Sarasota County protective injunction case, a relocation choice made by the alleged victim.

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Most “pet parents” understand that their dog, cat or other animal isn’t mere “property” but, rather, is a beloved member of the family. A person’s bond with their pet may be on a par with the bond they feel for their closest human loved ones. That love does, however, have a potential drawback for one group of people, which is people in abusive relationships. A victim of abuse may forego or delay leaving an abusive situation out of fear for the well-being, or the very life, of their beloved “fur babies.” A new law in Florida, however, has provided these people and their pets an added degree of protection through the system of injunctions for protection against domestic violence. If you are encountering abuse, don’t delay in reaching out to a knowledgeable South Florida family law attorney for options to protect your legal interests and your personal safety.

In late June, Governor DeSantis signed into law a bill that amends the Florida statute governing domestic violence injunctions. The new law expands the legal authority granted to judges in domestic violence injunction cases. Specifically, the bill added a new section to the statute, which says that a person who petitions successfully for a domestic violence injunction may potentially receive, in addition to temporary exclusive use of the couple’s home and 100% timesharing of the couple’s children, the “temporary exclusive care, possession, or control of an animal that is owned, possessed, harbored, kept, or held by the petitioner, the respondent, or a minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or respondent.”

The court may also order the alleged abuser to have no contact with the animal. The law carves out exclusions for animals that are owned “primarily for a bona fide agricultural purpose” and for a service animal if the alleged abuser is the service animal’s handler. In other words, even if you provide the necessary proof to get a domestic violence injunction, you cannot, for example, take your sight-impaired abuser’s service dog or remove livestock from your abuser’s farm.

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Though most of Florida has begun reopening and the shelter-in-place period passed, things are not as they were before. The impacts of the pandemic have been wide-ranging, but have been keenly felt by victims of domestic abuse. For many, the shelter-in-place period may have added additional stress and increased the frequency and/or severity of the abuse while, at the same time, taken away opportunities (like school or work) to reach out for help. Despite these extraordinary conditions, it is essential to recognize that the courts and law offices are still open and that, if you need help, help is available to you. A skilled South Florida family law attorney can be your vital lifeline to the courts and protective orders, along with other resources to enhance your safety.

Sources across the state and the country have been trying to get the word out: just because the number of domestic violence calls during the shelter-in-place period didn’t go up (or in some places went down,) that isn’t necessarily a cause for celebration. Research shows that introducing the conditions we’ve just experienced tends to increase incidents of domestic violence. You have an added element of financial insecurity for many families. You have many primary earners who have lost their jobs. You also have families confined at home together for extended periods, including wage-earners who are used to working outside the home and for whom remaining at home for weeks on end is completely outside their established routines. All of this is a recipe for increased domestic violence.

ABC News reported that authorities in California were greatly concerned by the low number of domestic violence calls during the “lockdown” period, fearing that the low number meant that a vast number of victims were suffering violence but unable to seek help. Closer to home, the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office in Tampa launched the “We Are Open” campaign to encourage victims to reach out. Much like the California authorities, authorities in Tampa feared that victims were still suffering violence, probably at increased rates, but were fearful to ask for help, WMNF reported. Victims may have encountered many problems, including an inability to secure a private place to make contact, a fear of the effects of the virus if they left their home, or a fear (often falsely instilled by their abusers) that they would be arrested by the police if they left their homes during the shelter-in-place period.

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Injunctions for protection against domestic violence are very important things that can have major impacts on your life. That’s true whether you’re the alleged abuser or the victim. As the victim, denial of an injunction can place you is serious, perhaps even life-threatening danger. As an alleged abuser, an injunction can lead to you losing your job, losing future job opportunities for which you apply, denial of housing and surrender of your firearms. That’s why, whichever position you’re in, it is always worth your while to hire an experienced Fort Lauderdale domestic violence attorney.

If the alleged abuser does not participate in his case, that can be a huge disadvantage for him and advantage for the alleged victim. For example, there’s the case of A.B., the wife of M.W., who filed a request for an injunction for protection against domestic violence in Broward County. According to the wife’s court documents, the husband had committed multiple acts of domestic violence, including a 2016 choking incident to which the police responded, as well as an April 2018 incident in which the husband allegedly told the wife that he “should put bullets in her head.”

The appeals court determined that this was enough evidence. If the wife had presented only an isolated incident that occurred years earlier, Florida law would have required denial of the injunction based on insufficient proof. However, A.B. had “several previous violent acts” committed by M.W. that had occurred over the years, including incidents that were quite recent.

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In a 1980s film, the movie’s protagonist (played by Tom Cruise) opines that “everything ends badly… otherwise it wouldn’t end.” While that isn’t always true with marriages, an unfortunately large number do end in bitterness and acrimony. If you find yourself in the aftermath of a bitter divorce, you may find yourself defending against a large number of legal actions launched by your ex who is trying to game the legal system. If that happens to you, it is well worth your while to retain the services of a skilled Fort Lauderdale divorce attorney. Your ex may be using (or abusing) the legal system, and your skilled attorney can help you use the system’s rules to overcome this onslaught through proper defense strategies, legal filing techniques and arguments.

J.J. was a Tampa Bay area man facing this type of situation in his case. He and his ex-wife, B.J., had a son together. The couple’s divorce and all other family law –related cases were litigated in Pasco County, just to the northwest of Tampa. In late December 2018, a judge in Pasco County rejected the mother’s request for an injunction against domestic violence on behalf of the couple’s child. In rejecting that petition, the judge declared the mother was not a credible witness and “was using the litigation as a weapon against her ex-husband.”

Just three days later, the mother was back in court… only this time she was in Tampa (Hillsborough County.) Once again, she sought an injunction against domestic violence on behalf of the couple’s child. The father fought back procedurally, asking the court in Hillsborough County to transfer the case to Pasco County.

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One recent Southwest Florida case included a “de facto” domestic violence injunction, and served as a reminder to anyone going through a divorce, especially a hotly contested one, that things can always take unexpected turns. You can’t always expect the unexpected, but you can prepare for it and safeguard yourself from an unexpected and potentially damaging twist in your divorce case by having a knowledgeable Fort Lauderdale divorce attorney on your side from the start.

Do you know what a “de facto domestic violence injunction” is? Probably not, as almost no one outside a certain set of lawyers would even be loosely familiar with the phrase. It’s very important to know that, if a court that was deciding your divorce case issued such a de facto domestic violence injunction, it would be just as serious as a “regular” domestic violence injunction.

So, what exactly does a de facto domestic violence injunction look like? In that extremely contentious case from Collier County, it involved a divorce judgment that, in Paragraph 19, said that “the Husband shall not come on or about the Wife’s place of employment. The Husband shall not come on or about the Wife’s residence, unless he has been specifically invited by the Wife, in writing, and for the sole purpose of delivering the children into her care. The Husband shall not come within 100 feet of the Wife’s motor vehicle.”

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Sometimes, you may see a family law-themed courtroom show on TV (such as Divorce Court or others,) where the spouses spend the entire episode angrily arguing with each other and complaining about one another, leaving the judge spending more time being a referee between the bickering spouses than being a judge of the facts and the law. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen only on TV.

Highly contentious family law cases, whether between two parents, two ex-spouses or two ex-partners are a reality of family law litigation. An extremely emotional and contentious case is one circumstance where it definitely pays to have a skilled South Florida family law attorney on your side. Your attorney can help guide you, calm you and protect your rights.

Take, as an example, a recent case from the Tampa area. R.L. and L.D. were former dating partners and she was in court seeking an injunction against dating violence. During the relationship, the man, L.D., had allegedly yanked R.L.’s arm and flung her across a room. A few months later, he allegedly chased her car on foot while cursing at her. According to R.L., L.D. had a long history of violence against women.

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