R.A. v. A.F.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 21, 2019
Docket2101 EDA 2018
StatusUnpublished

This text of R.A. v. A.F. (R.A. v. A.F.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
R.A. v. A.F., (Pa. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

J-S80031-18

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

R.A. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : A.F. : : Appellant : No. 2101 EDA 2018

Appeal from the Order Dated June 13, 2018 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County Domestic Relations at No(s): No. A06-2018-60978-A-37

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., BOWES, J., and NICHOLS, J.

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED FEBRUARY 21, 2019

Appellant A.F. appeals from the order granting Appellee R.A.’s request

for a final protection order under the Protection From Abuse (PFA) Act, 23

Pa.C.S. §§ 6101-6122. Appellant asserts that there was insufficient evidence

to support the entry of a PFA order. We affirm.

The facts underlying this matter are well known to the parties and are

aptly summarized in the trial court’s opinion. See Trial Ct. Op., 9/10/18, at

1-3. Accordingly, we need not reiterate them here. In sum, on June 6, 2018,

Appellee filed a PFA petition against her ex-husband, Appellant. On June 13,

2018, the parties appeared for an evidentiary hearing before the Honorable

Jeffrey G. Trauger. Appellee and Appellant had counsel, and both testified at

the hearing.1

____________________________________________

1 Appellee testified through an interpreter at the proceedings in this matter. J-S80031-18

At the conclusion of the June 13, 2018 hearing, the trial court entered

a three-year PFA order against Appellant. Appellant filed a timely notice of

appeal and court-ordered Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement of errors complained

of on appeal. The trial court issued a responsive Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion in

support of the trial court’s conclusion at the hearing, where the court had

stated that “based upon the totality of the circumstances as testified to . . .

this is a [matter falling under 23 Pa.C.S. § 6102(a)(5)] under the statute, and

that a protection from abuse order is warranted as specified under

Pennsylvania law.” N.T., 6/13/18, at 129.

On appeal, Appellant raises the following question for our review:

Whether the trial court erred in granting a [PFA] Order because there was insufficient evidence to find that [A]ppellee was in reasonable fear of bodily injury as required by 23 Pa.C.S. § 6102(a)(5) simply by virtue of the fact that a tracking device was installed in the BMW that the parties jointly leased which was repossessed for nonpayment of lease payment, where [A]ppellee did not testify that she was in fear of bodily injury because of the tracking device, or that she was even aware of its installation prior to the hearing date, and where [A]ppellee offered no testimony or evidence of any threats by [A]ppellant to cause [A]ppellee physical harm, but instead claimed that [A]ppellant threatened to post embarrassing content about her on the internet, and that her “primary fears” related to her immigration status because of the legal documents that she signed in connection with her divorce from [A]ppellant?

Appellant’s Brief at 5.2

2 In his Rule 1925(b) statement, Appellant also raised an issue regarding whether venue was appropriate in Bucks County. This issue has been abandoned on appeal.

-2- J-S80031-18

Appellant asserts that “there was insufficient evidence to find that

[A]ppellee was in reasonable fear of bodily injury . . . simply by virtue of the

fact that a tracking device was installed in the BMW.” Id. at 18. Appellant

argues that the fact that a tracking device was installed in the vehicle “alone

appears to be the lynchpin that [caused] the court [to] believe[] there was a

‘course of conduct’ that placed [A]ppellee in reasonable fear of bodily injury.”

Id. at 21. However, according to Appellant, Appellee was not aware before

the hearing that the tracking device had been installed, and therefore, this

fact could not be the basis for the entry of a PFA order against him. Id.

Following our review of Appellant’s arguments and the record, we

conclude that the well-reasoned opinion of Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger properly

addresses the arguments raised in this appeal. See Trial Ct. Op., 9/10/18, at

4-8. The court’s factual findings are supported in the record, and the court

appropriately analyzed the totality of the circumstances. The trial court did

not rely solely on the fact that a tracking device had been installed in

Appellee’s car as a basis to enter a final PFA order. Instead, Appellee testified

that she was afraid of the Appellant and provided details regarding multiple

incidents that caused her fear. See, e.g., N.T., 6/13/18, at 13-14.

As the trial court noted at the evidentiary hearing on June 13, 2018, its

conclusion that a PFA order was warranted was based on its credibility

determinations and all of the circumstances presented in the case. See N.T.,

6/13/18, at 129. Therefore, we discern no error in the court’s conclusion that

-3- J-S80031-18

sufficient evidence was presented justifying a PFA order against Appellant,

and we affirm of the basis of the trial court’s discussion of this issue.

Order affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq. Prothonotary

Date: 2/21/19

-4- Circulated 01/31/2019 02:28 PM

,,,-..._, IN THE COURT OF COMMON" PLEAS OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA FAMILY GOURTDIVISION

R ]A NO. A06-2018-60978-A-40 '•

v, 2101 EDA2018

a case #: iOlll-tl097.6-0017 A 12053W2· Main (Public) Coo�· 5214 . J9dge'37 Rcpt"Z1049700 9111�189·4335AM

OPINION

A- F- (hereinafter referred to as ''Appellant''), appeals to Pennsylvania Superior Court

from the final Protection from Abuse Order (hereinafter referred to as ''PFA1') entered by this Court

on June 13� 2018 against him on behalf of R- A• (hereinafter .referred to as "Appellee").

Pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of.Appellate Procedure 1925(a), we now file this Opinionin the above-

captioned.matter in support of the Court's i:uling.

I.. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On June 6, 20'18, Appellee filed a handwritten Petition for Protection from Abuse ("PFN')

against.Appellant, alleging, among other things, that she.was fearful for her life after Appellant posted

an online video alleging- false accusations about her committing infidelity, A&further alleged that

Appellant continued to threaten to post more videos and inappropriate pictures -of her online which

might cause hetfamily or otherpersons to kill her upon her return to Egypt as it violates cultural and

religious beliefs; An ex·.parte hearing was held before the Honorable Susan Devlin Scott on June_ 6,

201�, and A• was- granted a temporary PFA Order. A full evidentiary heating upon the Petition was

held before the undersigned ou June 13, 2018 with .thepresence of a certified court-appointed.Arabic

· interpreter .as requested by Appellee. The Court heard testimony from: Appellant and Appellec, and

l5 · ·- ' after examining the record, assessing witnesses' credibility and consideringthe evidence and testimony

presented, the Court entered a final Order awarding Appellee Protection from Abuse from Appellant

for the maximum statutory period of three (3) years, which.is the subject of this appeal,

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Th� !e·co�d 'before this Court reflects that Appellant, forty-seven (47) years old and Appellee,

thirty (30) years old, were married in 2015 and divorced in 201-7. (N.T. 6/13/2018, p; 9) Their

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R.A. v. A.F., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ra-v-af-pasuperct-2019.