Shay v. Scott

79 Pa. D. & C.4th 522
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Centre County
DecidedMarch 15, 2006
Docketno. 05-4048
StatusPublished

This text of 79 Pa. D. & C.4th 522 (Shay v. Scott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Centre County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shay v. Scott, 79 Pa. D. & C.4th 522 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2006).

Opinion

GRINE, J,

Presently before this court is appellant’s notice of appeal of this court’s order of December 6, 2005. After a protection from abuse petition evidentiary hearing held on the same date, this court was satisfied on proof beyond a reasonable doubt that appellee had proven her allegation of abuse against appellant. Accordingly, this court issued a final order of court on or about December 6, 2005 granting appellee’s request for a final protection from abuse order.

Pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(b), this court filed an order requiring counsel for the appellant to submit a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal. Counsel for appellant did so in a timely matter and argues the following on appeal:

“(1) Plaintiff failed to establish that she is a family or household member, sexual or intimate partner, or person who shares biological parenthood with defendant pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S. §6102.

“(2) Plaintiff failed to establish that defendant inflicted ‘abuse’ as defined in 23 Pa.C.S. §6102(a)(l) because there was no evidence that defendant either attempted to cause or intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly caused any of the proscribed behaviors under that subsection.

“(3) Specifically, plaintiff did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant inflicted abuse as defined in 23 Pa.C.S. §6102(a)(5) because there was insufficient evidence of conduct by defendant which would place plaintiff in reasonable fear of bodily injury.

[524]*524“(4) There was no evidence that defendant inflicted abuse as defined in 23 Pa.C.S. §6102(a)(2), (3) or (4).” See concise statement of matters complaint of on appeal, 2/17/06.

In his first matter complained of on appeal, appellant argues, in sum, that appellee did not have standing to seek a protection from abuse order from this court. Appellant alleges that appellee did not have standing to seek a protection from abuse order because plaintiff failed to establish that she is a protected person under the definition of “abuse” provided in the Protection from Abuse Act. See 23 Pa.C.S. §6102.

“Prior to judicial resolution of a dispute, an individual must as a threshold matter show that he has standing to bring the action.” Pittsburgh Palisades Park LLC v. Commonwealth, 585 Pa. 196, 203, 888 A.2d 655, 659 (2005); citing Bergdoll v. Kane, 557 Pa. 72, 731 A.2d 1261 (1999). In other words, a controversy is only worthy of judicial review if the individual initiating the legal action has been aggrieved. Pittsburgh Palisades LLC v. Commonwealth, 585 Pa. 196, 203-204, 888 A.2d 655, 659 (2005). (citations omitted) An individual can demonstrate that he has been “aggrieved” if he can establish that he has a substantial, direct, and immediate interest in the outcome of the litigation in order to be deemed to have standing. Id. at 205, 888 A.2d at 660.

Under the Protection from Abuse Act, an adult may seek relief under the Act “by filing a petition with the court alleging abuse by the defendant.” 23 Pa.C.S. §6106(a). “Abuse” under the Act is defined as the occurrence of one or more specifically defined acts between family or household members, sexual or intimate partners, or persons who share biological parenthood. 23 [525]*525Pa.C.S. §6102(a). Appellant and appellee were neither family nor household members, nor persons who share biological parenthood; therefore, appellee’s basis for relief was that she and appellant were former sexual or intimate partners.

At the protection from abuse order hearing, appellee testified that as a child, she was sexually molested by appellant. (Tr. 12/6/05, p. 4, ¶¶22-24.) From the time she was 7 years old until she was 12 years old, appellant would fondle and touch appellee between her legs, rubbing appellee’s genitals. (Tr. 12/6/05, p. 5, ¶¶16-25; p. 6, ¶¶1-15, 22-25; p. 7, ¶¶1-13.) Appellant does not deny molesting appellee when she was a child. As a result of the molestation, appellant was charged and pled guilty to two counts of indecent assault. (Tr. 12/6/05, p. 84, ¶¶2-4.)

At the conclusion of the hearing, defense counsel argued that appellee was a victim, not a sexual or intimate partner of appellant. Because the sexual relations between appellant and appellee were not consensual, appellant would have this court believe that appellee is not entitled to seek protection from the court. An extensive review of Pennsylvania case law reveals that there have been no previous decisions regarding the issue of whether an unwilling partner in a nonconsensual sexual relationship has standing to allege abuse under 23 Pa.C.S. §6102. Here, where appellee was sexually molested for a number of years, from the time she was a child into her adolescence, and is now again being faced with her abuser, this court submits that it could not find a better example or situation for which a plaintiff-victim is entitled to protection under the Protection from Abuse Act. This court finds that where sexual activity has occurred, even be[526]*526tween a molester and his non-consenting victim, this establishes a sexual or intimate partner relationship between the parties sufficient to give the victim standing to seek a protection from abuse order.

Appellant’s remaining arguments challenge the sufficiency of the evidence before the court when this court determined that appellant had inflicted abuse upon appellee as defined under the Protection from Abuse Act. At the outset, this court notes, when a claim is presented on appeal that the evidence is not sufficient to support an order of protection from abuse, an appellate court will review the evidence in the light most favorable to the petitioner, granting the petitioner the benefit of all reasonable inferences. Karch v. Karch, 885 A.2d 535, 536-37 (Pa. Super. 2005). Also, in reviewing the validity of a protection from abuse order, the appellate court must defer to the lower court’s determinations of credibility of witnesses at the hearing. R.G v. T.D., 448 Pa. Super. 525, 527, 672 A.2d 341, 342 (1996).

As stated above, an adult may seek relief under the Protection from Abuse Act “by filing a petition with the court alleging abuse by the defendant.” 23 Pa.C.S. §6106(a). One type of abuse which may be alleged is where a former or current sexual or intimate partner “[k]nowingly engagers] in a course of conduct or repeatedly commit[s] acts toward another person, including following the person, without proper authority, under circumstances which place the person in reasonable fear of bodily injury.” 23 Pa.C.S. §6102(a)(5). Placing another in reasonable fear of bodily injury has been interpreted to mean that the victim’s fear of bodily injury must simply be reasonable; actual physical contact is not required. Fonner v. Fonner, 731 A.2d 160 (Pa. Super. 1999) [527]*527(holding that a victim is not required to wait for physical or sexual abuse to occur in order for the Protection from Abuse Act to apply).

In R.G. v. T.D., 448 Pa. Super.

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Related

Pittsburgh Palisades Park, LLC v. Commonwealth
888 A.2d 655 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Bergdoll v. Kane
731 A.2d 1261 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Fonner v. Fonner
731 A.2d 160 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
R.G. v. T.D.
672 A.2d 341 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Karch v. Karch
885 A.2d 535 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
R.G. v. T.D.
672 A.2d 341 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)

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Bluebook (online)
79 Pa. D. & C.4th 522, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shay-v-scott-pactcomplcentre-2006.