What is an injunction?

You have the right to file a petition to ask the court to issue an injunction to protect you against violence. The injunction process is a civil court process and is not a part of a criminal court proceeding. An injunction is different than a criminal “no-contact” order. An injunction is a court order against another person who has been physically violent with you and/or has placed you in fear of physical violence. The objective is to require him or her to avoid your home, your vehicle, your place of business, and different spots the court discovers significant. Additionally, directives can arrange the other individual not to get in touch with you by telephone, in composing, by email, or face to face. Injunctions can incorporate additional help that the court feels is appropriate.

Injunctions for Protection (also known as Restraining Orders in other states) can be issued by the Court for:

  1. Domestic Violence
  2. Sexual Violence
  3. Dating Violence
  4. Repeat Violence

What needs to be proven to obtain an Injunction for Protection differs depending on the type of Injunction sought. An Injunction for Protection is an Order of the Court that is meant to protect a person who needs it. Very often, the Court will enter a temporary injunction for Protection at the time the Injunction is filed for, and a court date will be set for a final hearing. At such a hearing, often called a “return hearing,” the Court will hear evidence to determine if a Final Judgment of Injunction for Protection should be entered. Whichever side of the directive procedure you are on, it is indispensable that you employ the best lawyer to represent to you.

At Greater Tampa Law, we know how to prove to the judge that an Injunction for Protection should be granted, and we know what it takes to successfully defend against a request for an Injunction.  No matter which side of the process you are on in order to protect your rights.

Greater Tampa Law provides its clients with their best chance of obtaining the result they are looking for in these important cases.

    There are four kinds of civil injunctions

    • Domestic Violence

      Do you now or have you in the past lived with the other person as if a “family”?

      OR

      Do you and the other person have a child together?

      “Family” includes people who you are related to by blood or marriage; spouses, ex-spouses, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles; parties intimately involved and living together but never married; adopted children; step-parents and stepchildren, and others.

      If you answered yes to either of these domestic violence questions, then you can file a petition for an injunction for protection against domestic violence.

    • Sexual Violence

      A sexual violence injunction may be filed if the situation does not meet the criteria for a domestic violence injunction, and the other person committed one of the following acts: sexual battery defined by Chapter 794, lewd and lascivious act upon or in the presence of a child younger than 16, lured or enticed a child as described in chapter 787, required a child to sexually perform as in Chapter 827, or committed any forcible felony wherein a sexual act was committed or attempted.

      If the other person did commit one of these listed acts, you must have reported the sexual violence to law enforcement and be cooperating with any criminal proceeding to file for this kind of injunction. You can also file a sexual violence injunction if the other person has been in prison for the sexual violence and the term of imprisonment is getting ready to expire within ninety days.

    • Dating Violence

      Have you and the other person dated each other in the last six months?

      Did you have an expectation of affection or sexual involvement with the other person?

      Did you interact with the other person on a frequent and continuous basis during the relationship?

      If you answered YES to ALL of these questions about dating, and violence occurred between you and the other person, then you can file a petition for an injunction for protection against dating violence.

    • Repeat Violence

      If your answers to the questions about the other kinds of injunctions for domestic, sexual, and dating violence petitions are “NO”, then you can file a petition for an injunction against repeat violence. This petition would be used for neighbors, coworkers, students, relatives who have never lived together, etc. For this type of injunction, there must have been two incidents of physical violence, threats of violence, or stalking, and one of these must have occurred in the last six months.

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