According to Florida case law, an isolated incident of domestic violence that occurred years before a petition is filed will not support the issuance of an injunction in the absence of additional current allegations:
[A]n isolated incident of domestic violence that occurred years before a petition for injunction is filed will not usually support the issuance of an injunction in the absence of additional current allegations.” Battaglia v. Thompson , 203 So. 3d 1018, 1019 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (quoting Gill v. Gill , 50 So. 3d 772, 774 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) ). Notably, however, the instant case did not involve a single “isolated incident” of domestic violence, but several previous violent acts by Appellee against Appellant. Additionally, it appears that cases which have found allegations describing multiple events insufficient to establish a reasonable fear of imminent violence concerned “generalized threats to engage in unpleasant, but not violent, behavior.” See, e.g., id. (quoting Gill , 50 So. 3d at 774-75 ). As such, those cases have concluded that such recent generalized threats are insufficient to support the issuance of a domestic violence injunction. See, e.g., id. Unlike those cases, however, the April 2018 threat in this case was not a generalized one to engage in nonviolent behavior, but a threat to engage in a specific act of killing—namely, to put bullets in Appellant’s head. Therefore, the circumstances of this case do not appear to fall in the realm of those in which an isolated incident of violence occurred years prior with no other more current incident or threat of actual violence.
See: Boucher v. Warren, 291 So. 3d 597, 601 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2020)
Related:
- How to Get a Restraining Order in Broward and all Florida Counties
- Recent Domestic Violence (Protection Order) Cases
- Child Support in Domestic Violence Cases in Florida
_______________
Do you have questions or comments? Then please feel free to send us an email or call him now at (954) 880-1302.
If you found this information helpful, please share this article and bookmark it for your future reference.