Lukacs v. Luton

982 So. 2d 1217, 2008 WL 2167866
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 27, 2008
Docket1D07-1312
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 982 So. 2d 1217 (Lukacs v. Luton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lukacs v. Luton, 982 So. 2d 1217, 2008 WL 2167866 (Fla. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

982 So.2d 1217 (2008)

Stephen LUKACS, Jr., Appellant,
v.
Dianna LUTON, Appellee.

No. 1D07-1312.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

May 27, 2008.

Christopher T. Wilson of the Law Office of Gary Baker, P.A., Callahan, for Appellant.

No appearance for Appellee.

THOMAS, J.

Appellant seeks review of a final judgment of injunction for protection against repeat violence. This case presents an issue of first impression: whether section 784.046(1)(b), Florida Statutes (2006), authorizes an injunction for repeat violence where the petitioner is a victim of stalking, which by statutory definition must include repeated acts of following or harassment. Here, Appellant stalked Appellee, the victim, by following her and then harassing her at work.

We hold that section 784.046(1)(b), Florida Statutes, authorizes an injunction for protection against repeat violence where a person commits stalking against the petitioner. We base our holding on the statutory definitions of repeat violence and stalking, and on the canons of statutory construction. If we were to hold that section 784.046(1)(b) requires two incidents of stalking, a person would be allowed to follow or harass a victim at least four times before a court could issue a protective injunction. In our view, such an interpretation is contrary to legislative intent and leads to an absurd result. We thus affirm the trial court's final judgment and certify conflict with the Fifth District.

Facts and Procedural History

Appellee filed a petition for injunction for protection against repeat violence, alleging that Appellant, who was unknown to her, approached her at work and threatened *1218 her. Based on Appellee's petition, the trial court granted a temporary injunction for protection against repeat violence.

Appellant moved to dismiss the petition, denying that the alleged acts occurred and arguing that Appellee failed to allege that Appellant committed two acts of violence or stalking in her petition, as required by statute. The trial court denied Appellant's motion, reasoning that the petition alleged two separate incidents based on Appellant's first following Appellee and then his harassment of Appellee at her workplace the next day.

At a later hearing on the petition, Appellee testified that she was working as a waitress when Appellant, whom she did not know, approached her and said she needed to talk to him. She testified that Appellant said there was a "mystery" behind her, and he wanted to know why she was working at the restaurant. Although he told her he would not harm her if she did not talk to him, Appellant told her he knew where she lived and that he might rape her. Appellee further testified that Appellant knew her exact street address, the precise three roads she had driven the previous night on her way home, and what she was wearing the night before while in her home. When the court asked Appellant about these encounters, he testified that it could have been a coincidence, or "maybe there was some non-coincidence behind it, maybe some ... divine thing behind it. A divine sparkle." The trial court then found sufficient cause to enter an injunction for protection against repeat violence, and prohibited Appellant from having any contact with Appellee.

Appellant moved for rehearing, citing Dudley v. Smith, 786 So.2d 630 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001), and noting that "one court has concluded that at least four acts of harassment are required to support an injunction against repeat violence based on stalking." Therefore, Appellant argued, the evidence here was insufficient to support the injunction. The trial court denied Appellant's motion.

Analysis and Standard of Review

To properly resolve this case, we must interpret the statutory definitions of violence, repeat violence, and stalking. We first recognize that our standard of review in construing the relevant statutes is de novo. Polite v. State, 973 So.2d 1107, 1111 (Fla.2007). Unlike the statute at issue in Polite, the rule of lenity does not apply to our analysis because we are not reviewing a criminal statute. See § 775.021(1), Fla. Stat. (2006). Accordingly, we do not interpret the statute in the light most favorable to Appellant; rather, we must determine whether the relevant language is susceptible to competing meanings, and if so, we must apply the relevant and compelling rules of statutory construction.

A. Statutory Definition of Repeat Violence and Stalking

Section 784.046(2), Florida Statutes (2006), creates a cause of action for protection against repeat violence, dating violence, and sexual violence, and provides an injunctive remedy to protect victims from the dangers associated with repeated acts of violence or stalking.

Section 784.046(1), Florida Statutes (1994), defined violence and repeat violence as follows:

(a) "Violence" means any assault, battery, or sexual battery by a person against any other person.
(b) "Repeat violence" means two incidents of violence committed by the respondent, one of which must have been within 6 months of the filing of the petition, which are directed against the petitioner....

*1219 In 1995, the Legislature inserted the words "or stalking" into both of these definitions. Ch. 95-195, § 13, Laws of Fla. Repeat violence is now defined as follows:

(b) "Repeat violence" means two incidents of violence or stalking committed by the respondent, one of which must have been within 6 months of the filing of the petition, which are directed against the petitioner....

§ 784.046(1)(b), Fla. Stat. (2006) (emphasis added).

As defined in section 784.048, Florida Statutes (2006), stalking requires the State to prove that a person committed repeated acts of following or harassment. Subsection (1) defines "harass" as "to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose." § 784.048(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2006). "Course of conduct" is "a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose." § 784.048(1)(b), Fla. Stat. (2006) (emphasis added). Subsection (2) then provides that any person who "willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows [or] harasses ... another person commits the offense of stalking...." § 784.048(2), Fla. Stat. (2006).

Thus, by its statutory definition, stalking requires proof of repeated acts. Because of this requirement, the Second District has recognized that double jeopardy principles preclude a criminal conviction for multiple counts of stalking, even during a lengthy time period. See Eichelberger v. State, 949 So.2d 358 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Marinelli v. State, 706 So.2d 1374 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). We believe the Second District's analysis is relevant in our interpretation of the repeat violence injunction statute, which we discuss in more detail below.

Appellant argues that the injunction statute requires at least two acts of stalking. If the phrase "two incidents of violence or stalking" in section 784.046(1)(b), Florida Statutes, is read to mean "two incidents of stalking," Appellant would be correct; however, we do not think the statute can be reasonably read in this manner.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
982 So. 2d 1217, 2008 WL 2167866, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lukacs-v-luton-fladistctapp-2008.