Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence

A party’s acts toward another, no matter how annoying, inconsiderate or even violent, may not be enough to support the entry of a Florida stalking injunction. Entry of this type of injunction requires a showing of a course of conduct involving two separate incidents of stalking that evidence a continuity of purpose to harass. This was an issue in the case Stallings v. Bernard, 2D20-3141 (Fla. 2d DCA February 18, 2022).

The alleged victim in this case lived next door to the accused’s girlfriend. The accused would visit his girlfriend and did not have any negative interaction with the alleged victim until the alleged victim and the girlfriend got into an argument. Thereafter, the accused was alleged to have sent text messages to the alleged victim, threatening her. But there were no other interactions between the parties for about three months after that. The next interaction occurred when the accused hit the back window of a vehicle in which the alleged victim was travelling with the baseball bat. This act was not targeted at the alleged victim but rather at a companion of the alleged victim who was involved in a separate disagreement with associates of the accused. A stalking injunction was entered for a period of three years against the accused, and he appealed.

The appellate court reversed, holding that while the accused’s behavior was inappropriate, it did not support the entry of a stalking injunction. The court held “[The accused] made direct contact with [the alleged victim] one time when he sent the Snapchat message. And although indirect contact can constitute harassment, there still must be a pattern of conduct that evidences a continuity of purpose, which we do not have here. [. . .] The Snapchat message and the subsequent August incident two and a half months later do not satisfy the requirement of repeated acts toward Bernard because there is no evidence the August incident was directed at Bernard.”

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