Question Regarding Injunction Hearing and Debts Owed From Plaintiff

J

Julius

New Member
Jurisdiction
Florida
Someone I broke up with recently is attempting to file an injunction against me. In short, it's completely illegitimate. She suffers from paranoid delusions. She's had two different injunctions against two other men in the past, so this seems like her pattern of behavior after a breakup.

After filing the injunction, she has since contacted me twice via text, tried to call (I DID NOT answer), and via email. Her messages she left were quite antagonistic, definitely not the behaviors of someone who is supposedly afraid of you.

I have copies of the email (including IP address), along with the texts and phone call record. So, no worries about the injunction getting dropped.

My concern is money she owes me. In her statements with the injunction, she stated she owed me $150 for AC repairs at her home, but then stated she wasn't going to pay it in case I disputed the charge (which since I signed for it, obviously I can't). Regardless, it's now on record in this case that she acknowledges she agreed to reimburse me that money. Is there any way I can address that in the hearing for this case, or do I need to file a separate small claims suit? They gave me this letter today, and the hearing is Monday, so I don't have hardly any time to prepare, and can't file anything before the hearing since it's right at the start of court on Monday at 9am. Not sure if I even can do anything about it in this case, but figured I'd ask.

And if you're going to say cut my losses, I already lost about $500 in other things I helped her pay for, on top of multiple possessions that were over her house that I'm not getting back. Considering I have 3 children to provide for, every dollar counts, so that $150 is a big deal to me, even if it isn't to you. Please take that into consideration if you give me feedback. Thank you
 
The hearing is for the injunction. The only thing the judge will want to hear is you politely and calmy telling him why there is no need for an injunction because you don't want to have anything to do her.

Bring up the money and things are likely to get hostile and the judge may just grant the injunction to get you both out of there.

The hearing is not the place to talk about the money or all the things that you did for her. If you want the money, you'll have to sue her separately. Which, of course, will keep her in your life, making you miserable for many months to come.

Judges often grant injunctions to err on the side of caution. If that happens, just calmy accept it, walk out, avoid her. Block her number, block her email, block her texts. Stay as far away from her as possible.

And, yeah, forget about the money. It's important to you but it will cost you more grief than it is worth.
 
adjusterjack said:
The hearing is for the injunction. The only thing the judge will want to hear is you politely and calmy telling him why there is no need for an injunction because you don't want to have anything to do her.

Bring up the money and things are likely to get hostile and the judge may just grant the injunction to get you both out of there.

The hearing is not the place to talk about the money or all the things that you did for her. If you want the money, you'll have to sue her separately. Which, of course, will keep her in your life, making you miserable for many months to come.

Judges often grant injunctions to err on the side of caution. If that happens, just calmy accept it, walk out, avoid her. Block her number, block her email, block her texts. Stay as far away from her as possible.

And, yeah, forget about the money. It's important to you but it will cost you more grief than it is worth.
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Thanks for the information and feedback.

I wrote out a script that I plan to go over in the Zoom hearing, and I already provided the evidence of the texts, calls, and emails she sent me subsequent to her requesting an injunction (they provided an email to send it into prior to the hearing). She made a LOT of false allegations, and so my response is quite lengthy, as I wanted to try to clarify all the statements she made that were untrue.

I just worry that if she gets this injunction, she'll try to continue to make false allegations (just as she has in the initial allegations with this motion) and do all she can to make my life hell.

Should I just keep it simple and show the proof she continued to contact me after requesting the injunction, or should I be thorough and address all she brought up in her allegations? There's just so much she stated that was untrue, and I feel if I don't address it, the judge would grant her an injunction. But, I have substantial proof to prove she is lying about multiple allegations. And the contact she continued to do when she alleges she was "afraid" is extremely antagonistic, including throwing a new boyfriend in my face, as well as numerous insults made towards me. Again, completely contradictory to the actions of someone who would be afraid of you.
 
The judge isn't going to allow much time for this. I suggest that you write it up, attach numbered exhibits with a brief numbered paragraph explaining each exhibit. Hand a set to the judge and to her. That way you can quickly refer the judge to each item.

Don't forget to ask for an injunction against her.
 
adjusterjack said:
The judge isn't going to allow much time for this. I suggest that you write it up, attach numbered exhibits with a brief numbered paragraph explaining each exhibit. Hand a set to the judge and to her. That way you can quickly refer the judge to each item.

Don't forget to ask for an injunction against her.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this information. I won't be able to provide copies to both the judge and her, as I am doing the Zoom interface. But, they provided me with an email address to send evidence, and I did email it there, where I got confirmation it was received.

The initial response I wrote was about 20mins to cover, although I just revised it and got it down to about 9mins. I can't make it any shorter without missing vital topics, as her statements were five pages long. Mine are three and a half, but all necessary to cover. Hopefully, the judge will give me that time.

And I will definitely ask for the injunction. I did add that to the notes, so thank you. I feel between the false allegations, her continuing to contact me, the antagonistic provocative manner she has done so since the breakup, and now her trying to contact exes of mine (just found out yesterday), I think I have far better grounds for an injunction than her. Definitely more evidence, that's for certain. Hers is pretty much all hearsay.

Only advantage she has is there was an ex of mine I dated back in 2015-2016 who made allegations of domestic violence against me. She made sure to bring that up. But I'm in my mid 40s, it was one single person, and there was no convictions as it was all false allegations. Long story, but she was the abuser but played the "poor me" card. That's the only big thing that I know will hurt me here.
 
** UPDATE **

So, the hearing was this morning. I was nervous. However, she made multiple false statements that I was able to prove false from my evidence. In addition, I objected to her submitting the prior injunction as evidence, as it was from 7yrs ago and irrelevant to the case. The judge sustained the objection.

She told things in such a contorted way, and some just blatant lies. I took notes, adjusted my own pre-prepared notes accordingly as she spoke and presented evidence, then I had my turn. As I presented mine, she never objected, but she complained a few times. The judge had to tell her to stop intervening unless she had an objection. He got more and more irritated with her as she kept complaining, cutting me off, and was caught in multiple blatant lies by my evidence.

The judge got so ticked at her that he tore into her at the end. He stated something along the lines of "Ms. X, you have not demonstrated in any way, shape, or form that Mr. Y poses any threat to you whatsoever. In fact, if anything, YOU pose a threat to HIM, as you clearly made false accusations about Mr. Y in attempts to gain your injunction. His evidence proves beyond any reasonable doubt that you have committed perjury in this courtroom today on at least three different occasions, which is a crime Ms. X. You have wasted the courts time, you have wasted Mr. Y's time, and you better hope I never see you in my courtroom again Ms. X. Injunction denied, case dismissed. Good luck to you Mr. Y. Try to choose more wisely next time you enter a relationship."

The look on her face was priceless. So glad the judge saw it for what it was. Thanks for giving me feedback in advance @adjusterjack , I greatly appreciate it
 

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