In Florida, people can petition the courts for an injunction for protection based on allegations of domestic, sexual, dating, or repeat violence. If an injunction is made permanent following a hearing, it can have severe repercussions on the enjoined party’s life, liberties, career, and more. While an injunction for protection can help to protect people from domestic abuse, some people seek these orders to gain an upper hand in custody proceedings or to get revenge for a real or imagined wrong. Recently, the Fort Pierce criminal lawyers at Kirschner & McEnery, LLC successfully defended a client against a baseless injunction for protection and preserved their rights.
Case Background and Procedural History
The biological mother of a girl filed a petition for a domestic violence injunction for protection against her daughter’s stepmother. The petitioner alleged the stepmother had been hitting the girl. The daughter also provided some corroboration, and the judge issued a temporary injunction for protection against the stepmother. After receiving notice of the temporary injunction, the stepmother and her husband retained the Fort Pierce criminal lawyers at Kirschner & McEnery to mount an aggressive Port Saint Lucie domestic violence defense against the allegations and the injunction.
After filing the original petition, the biological mother subsequently amended it to include allegations the stepmother had sexually molested the daughter. The attorneys at Kirschner & McEnery served as a barrier between the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and their client. DCF was instructed to contact our Fort Pierce criminal lawyers instead of our client while the injunction case proceeded. Kirschner & McEnery obtained DCF records as evidence.
Law enforcement officers investigated the case and interviewed the child. They found that the allegations were baseless and that the biological mother had coached her daughter about what to say.
More than four court dates were set, and 10 hours of evidence were presented at the permanent injunction hearing. The Fort Pierce criminal defense lawyers at Kirschner & McEnery called multiple witnesses from DCF and revealed the findings by law enforcement that the child had been coached and the claims were baseless. Our defense lawyers cross-examined the biological mother about her motive for seeking the order for protection, revealing that she wanted to keep her daughter away from her father and stepmother by using the biological mother’s social media posts.
What is a Domestic Violence Injunction for Protection?
An injunction for protection is also known as a restraining order. It is a civil court process through which a party can ask the court to enjoin the subject from contacting them, coming within a certain distance of the protected party’s school, residence or place of employment, and other orders the court finds necessary.
Anyone can request an injunction for protection by filling out paperwork and submitting it to the court clerk. Once the request is filed, the judge will review it and hold an ex parte hearing to make an initial determination of whether the allegations warrant a temporary injunction based on the claims made and the testimony provided by the person seeking protection.
Once a temporary injunction is issued, the protected party must have it served on the defendant. A hearing must be scheduled within 15 days. The hearing date can be extended by the parties and the court to allow either side to conduct more investigation and gather evidence.
A domestic violence injunction for protection can be issued if the evidence supports the petitioner’s credible fear of physical violence from the defendant. For this type of injunction, the party seeking protection must have one of the following relationships with the defendant:
- Spouse or ex-spouse
- Person with whom they share a child
- Person with whom they have lived in the past as a family whether or not related by blood
- Parents
- Grandparents
- Stepparents
- Stepchildren
- Adopted children
- Biological children
- Others
What Are the Consequences of a Domestic Violence Injunction for Protection?
If the court finds sufficient evidence at the hearing on the injunction for protection to make the temporary order permanent, it can have severe consequences for the defendant. A domestic violence injunction for protection can prevent the subject from being able to purchase or possess firearms or ammunition. It is effective in all 50 states and can impact the subject’s career, reputation, and relationships.
For an enjoined parent, a domestic violence injunction for protection can also result in the inability to see or communicate with their child. If they share a home with the protected party, the enjoined party will also be forced to move. Finally, while a domestic violence injunction for protection is a civil process and not criminal, domestic violence allegations can lead to a separate criminal prosecution.
The potential consequences of this type of order make it critical for someone served with a temporary injunction for protection to contact an experienced Fort Pierce criminal defense lawyer at Kirschner & McEnery as soon as possible. If you ignore the temporary injunction and fail to defend against it, the court can issue a permanent order against you by default.
Case Outcome
After more than 10 hours of evidence and four court dates, the experienced attorneys at Kirschner & McEnery won a dismissal of the domestic violence injunction for protection against our client. The court found the testimony and evidence presented by the biological mother were not credible and issued an order dissolving the temporary injunction and denying her request for a permanent injunction.
Get Help from Kirschner & McEnery, LLC
If you have learned a temporary injunction for protection has been issued against you, you must act quickly. Our experienced Port Saint Lucie domestic violence defense attorneys at Kirschner & McEnery can review the temporary injunction and immediately begin investigating the case and gathering evidence. We can aggressively defend against a permanent injunction and will fight to protect your rights. Contact us today if you need the help of a criminal lawyer by calling (772) 489-8501.
