“Stalking” a Child or Being at the Same School Event with One’s Own Children?
Florida appellate courts have published many opinions in recent years (correct ones, I think) reminding trial courts of the limits on anti-harassment/stalking/cyberstalking restraining orders. Whether that is a mark of the soundness of the Florida appellate courts, of the frequency of errors by Florida lower courts, something else, or a mix of these, I can’t say. But here’s a recent example, from Hoover v. Peak, decided in August by Judge Thomas Winokur joined by Chief Judge Timothy Osterhaus and Judge Joseph Lewis, Jr.:
On Independence Day, 2023, Hoover aimed a Roman candle firework at several children present in his neighborhood. Peak’s daughter, C.P., was one of those children. C.P. had her back turned to Hoover when the firework went off, and she suffered a minor injury to her thigh.
Peak reported the incident to the Department of Children and Families, which led to Hoover’s arrest for child abuse. Hoover was also arrested for a separate domestic incident with his now estranged wife Mandelin Hoover. The court granted Mandelin Hoover a domestic violence injunction against Hoover with a no-contact provision.
Then, in August 2023, Hoover and his ex-wife—not Mandelin Hoover—attended their daughter’s ninth-grade orientation at Crestview High School. C.P. was also a ninth-grader at Crestview High School. Thus, Peak, her husband, C.P., and Mandelin Hoover (Peak’s purported best friend) also attended the orientation. While at the orientation, Peak and Hoover crossed paths on four occasions. Peak believed that Hoover understood his criminal case for child abuse due to the fireworks incident to also include a no-contact order as to C.P. In fact, no such provision existed.
Peak sought out the school police deputy to inform him that Hoover was on the premises and that he should be removed. At the same time, Hoover turned into the same hallway but after seeing Peak’s family, he walked away. Based on the four encounters at orientation, Peak filed the underlying petition for an injunc
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