WOODS v. WOODS (2023)

Appellant, Lael Woods, asks this Court to reverse the trial court's order denying her petition which sought a permanent domestic violence injunction against her husband, Appellee, Christopher Woods. Evidentiary hearings were conducted over the space of several days. The court found that there had been actual domestic violence by Appellee against Appellant, but concluded that it was too remote in time. The trial court determined that there was no basis to find an objectively reasonable risk of imminent domestic violence.

“A trial court's ruling on a petition for a domestic violence injunction is reviewed for abuse of discretion.” Delgado v. Ortiz, 326 So. 3d 203, 203 (Fla. 5th DCA 2021). “In conducting this review, this Court focuses on whether the trial court's determination is supported by competent, substantial evidence, with a focus on the legal sufficiency as opposed to the evidentiary weight.” Id. Here, the trial court took testimony and had the ability to evaluate the parties and their circumstances from a vantage point far superior to ours. We conclude that the trial court's decision is supported by competent, substantial evidence and finding no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in denying the petition for injunction, we are obliged to affirm.

AFFIRMED.

PER CURIAM.

WALLIS, EDWARDS and EISNAUGLE, JJ., concur.