Final Restraining Order (FRO) Dismissed on Appeal
Do you need to appeal a final restraining order (FRO) that was issued against you? We can help you with that.
Here is an appeal that we won in early 2019 for a client who had a final restraining order (FRO) issued against him in late 2016 based on harassment as the predicate act of domestic violence. We felt that the evidence did not support a finding of harassment and that there was no need for a permanent restraining order to protect the plaintiff. As a result, we filed an appeal on these two issues.
The plaintiff and defendant were previously married and had two children together. The plaintiff now resides in New Jersey with the children while the defendant resides in California with his new wife and their young child. The incident that gave rise to the plaintiff filing for a temporary restraining order was concerning the children, when they were on vacation visiting their father in California. The plaintiff alleged that there were some harassing text messages sent when the parties were arguing about the children. However, these text messages were never provided or admitted into evidence.
The appellate court found that these 7 text messages did not constitute harassment in this circumstance. Clearly, both parties sent text messages back and forth and the purpose was a dispute over the parenting of their children. The plaintiff failed to produce the text messages and prove that they were harassing or that they were sent to harass the plaintiff. As a result, the court found that there was no harassment and no predicate act of domestic violence.
In addition, the court found that no evidence was produced to show that the plaintiff was reasonable to be in fear for her safety and that she needed the protection of the courts with a restraining order. The parties live across the country from each other (one in New Jersey and one in California) so it is difficult to prove a reasonable fear for your safety. Therefore, the court dismissed the case completely based on a lack of domestic violence and a lack of a need for a restraining order.
Here is a link to the NJ Courts website where you can read the entire opinion from the Appellate Court.
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This was a tremendous result for our client and the Tormey Law Firm. If you need a lawyer to file an appeal after a final restraining order (FRO) was issued against you, contact our offices anytime for a free initial consultation.