RONALD TROWELL, APPELLANT,
v.
CARLA JEAN MEADS, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court reversed a permanent restraining order for domestic violence where the trial court found assault based solely on a telephone call from an involuntarily committed hospital patient, holding that no evidence established the statutory elements of assault or domestic violence.
A permanent restraining order for domestic violence cannot be sustained where no evidence establishes the statutory elements of assault or domestic violence.
[1] A permanent restraining order for domestic violence requires evidence establishing the statutory elements of assault or other domestic violence as defined in section 741.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellee, a former wife, sought a domestic violence injunction against appellant, who was involuntarily committed at Florida State Hospital in Chattah…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant seeks review of a “permanent restraining order” entered against him in response to a “petition for injunction on [sic] domestic violence” filed by appellee, his former wife, pursuant to section 741.30, Florida Statutes (Supp.1992). Appellant argues that, as a matter of law, appellee failed to present evidence sufficient to establish her entitlement to relief pursuant to that statute. We agree and, accordingly, reverse.
The trial court based its order upon the conclusion that appellant “committed an assault upon [appellee] over the telephone, notwithstanding the fact that he is involuntarily committed at the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida, and is not at liberty to leave said place of confinement.” “Assault” is defined as “an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent.” § 784.011(1), Fla.Stat. (1991). No evidence was presented from which one might conclude that any of the elements of an assault had been established. Likewise, no evidence was presented from which one might conclude that appellee was the victim of, or had “reasonable cause to believe ... she [was] about to become the victim of any [other] act of domestic violence,” as that term is defined in section 741.30(l)(a). § 741.30(2)(a), Fla.Stat. (Supp.1992). Therefore, it was error to enter the “permanent restraining order.” See Johnson v. Brooks, 567 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 1st DCA1990).
REVERSED.
JOANOS, C.J., and MINER and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.
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Trowell v. State, 706 So. 2d 332 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…In another appearance before this court, Mr. Trowell successfully obtained reversal of a permanent restraining order entered against him in response to a domestic violence petition filed by a former wife (not the one he murdered). Trowell v. Meads, 618 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). In that case, Mr. Trowell had the assistance of free counsel provided by legal services. The hapless former wife, who saw her injunction dissolved, had no counsel.…
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Achurra v. Achurra, 80 So. 3d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)…t Mrs. Achurra had a reasonable basis to believe that she or the children were in danger of becoming domestic violence victims; and that no competent substantial evidence would support entry of the final judgment of injunction. See Trowell v. Meals, 618 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (supporting the proposition that without adequate findings supported by the record, a final judgment must be reversed). Our review of the trial court’s conclusion of law that the petitioner is entitled to a final judgment of inju…
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REY v. Perez-Gurri, 662 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)…Perez-Gurri’s most recent threat in light of his prior violent and threatening behavior constitutes sufficient evidence of reasonable cause. See Campbell v. Campbell, 584 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). Unlike the former husband in Trowell v. Meads, 618 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993), who was involuntarily committed to a state mental hospital at the time he threatened his former wife, Perez-Gurri had the ability to carry out his threat. In this case, Perez-Gurri is a practicing physician who has visitation ri…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Johnson v. Brooks, 567 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)