Marriage of I.Y. and M.Y. CA4/3 ( 2024 )


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  • Filed 5/16/24 Marriage of I.Y. and M.Y. CA4/3
    Opinion after recalling remittitur
    NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
    California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for
    publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication
    or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
    IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
    FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
    DIVISION THREE
    In re Marriage of I.Y. and M.Y.
    I.Y.,
    G061000
    Appellant,
    (Super. Ct. No. 15D003338)
    v.
    OPINION
    M.Y.,
    Respondent.
    Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Carmen R.
    Luege, Judge. Affirmed.
    Law Offices of Lisa R. McCall, Lisa R. McCall and Erica M. Baca for
    Appellant.
    M.Y., in pro. per., for Respondent.
    I.Y. appeals from the denial of her motion to renew a domestic violence
    restraining order (DVRO) issued against her ex-husband M.Y. She contends the trial
    court erred by taking judicial notice of the entire court file and by applying the wrong
    legal standard in four ways: (1) allowing M.Y. to challenge the evidence and findings
    underlying the issuance of the DVRO; (2) disregarding his abusive litigation tactics;
    (3) disregarding his violations of the DVRO; and (4) considering his state of mind in
    violating the DVRO. We affirm the order.
    FACTS
    I.Y. and M.Y. married in 2008, I.Y. filed for divorce in 2015, and the
    marriage was dissolved in 2017. They share a minor daughter (Daughter).
    I.     M.Y.’s Abusive Conduct in 2015 and the Resulting Protective Orders
    In 2015, M.Y. had become addicted to prescription medication, and I.Y.
    believed he was “under the influence of drugs consistently.” On March 24, I.Y. came
    home and saw a hole in the wall. M.Y. told I.Y. he put it there. When she asked him
    why, “[he] said he pondered over the last few days whether to put a hole in the wall with
    his fist or [her] face.”
    The next day, I.Y. noticed a dent in her car. When she asked about it, M.Y.
    said he put it there with his fist.
    The day after, on March 26, M.Y. became angry at I.Y. when she refused to
    talk to him and instead began putting Daughter, then age four, to bed. He followed them
    to a bedroom, yelled at I.Y., and paced back and forth. He “became so angry that he
    violently threw a dresser down on the ground and stomped on a framed picture on the
    floor.” He blocked I.Y. from leaving the room with Daughter. In response to I.Y.’s call,
    the police arrived at the home, conducted interviews, and found bags in the living room,
    which were “unsecured” and contained a rifle, a revolver, and ammunition. M.Y. was
    arrested for child endangerment (Pen. Code, § 273a);1 making criminal threats (§ 422);
    1              All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise
    indicated.
    2
    and false imprisonment (§ 236). They also later found “18 guns and over 8,000 rounds of
    ammunition.”
    Three protective orders were issued against M.Y.: (1) An emergency
    protective order (EPO) on March 27, 2015; (2) a workplace temporary restraining order;
    and (3) a CLETS domestic violence criminal protective order (CPO) on June 19, 2015 in
    a related criminal action. Despite the EPO prohibiting him from contacting I.Y. or
    Daughter through any means, M.Y. called I.Y. several times from jail.
    II.    M.Y.’s Guilty Plea and the Second CPO (2016)
    On March 14, 2016, in the related criminal action, M.Y. pleaded guilty to
    one count of vandalism (§ 594, subd. (a)/(b)(2)(a)) and two counts of disobeying a
    domestic relations court order (§ 273.6, subd. (a)). As the factual basis for the plea, M.Y.
    admitted to “[w]illfully, unlawfully, and maliciously damag[ing] and destroy[ing]
    property” at the residence, and to “knowingly and [i]ntentionally” violating the EPO by
    contacting I.Y. twice. All other charges were dismissed. That same day, a second CPO
    was issued against M.Y. protecting I.Y. and Daughter, as a probation condition order
    (§ 1203.097).
    III.   The Original DVRO (2016)
    Days after the second CPO was issued, I.Y. requested a DVRO. She
    identified the most recent dates of abuse as the 2015 events when M.Y. put a hole in the
    wall, dented her car, blocked her from leaving the house, and threw the dresser down.
    I.Y. described other earlier acts of abuse, including: (1) M.Y. leaving her
    and Daughter, then six months old, at a restaurant when I.Y. refused to ride home with
    him drunk; (2) him kicking Daughter’s toys in front of her; (3) him slamming the
    dishwasher door, causing dishes inside to break, during an argument; (4) him slamming
    I.Y.’s laptop down on a table; (5) using profanity often in front of Daughter; and
    3
    (6) telling I.Y. many times, “I want to take myself out,” and once telling Daughter,
    “[H]ow about daddy just shoots himself?”
    On May 13, 2016, the trial court (Judge Michael J. Naughton) heard
    testimony from both parties on the DVRO request.2 By party stipulation, the police
    report of the March 26, 2015 incident was admitted into evidence. In the report, the
    officer noted that M.Y. had violated the EPO by calling I.Y. seven times from jail.
    The trial court found by a preponderance of the evidence that M.Y.
    committed acts of domestic violence against I.Y. and Daughter. The minute order noted
    that M.Y. “violat[ing] the Criminal Protective Order seven times is enough for this court
    to issue a restraining order.”3 The court ordered sole legal custody to I.Y., who was
    “willing to allow monitored visits” between M.Y. and Daughter. It issued a five-year
    DVRO to protect I.Y. and Daughter and ordered him to complete a 52-week batterers’
    intervention program.
    From May 2016 to February 2020, the DVRO was amended five times to
    change, among other things, M.Y.’s visitation schedule with Daughter. M.Y. sought,
    unsuccessfully, to have Daughter removed from the DVRO as a protected party; he never
    asked for I.Y. to be removed.
    IV.    The Request for Renewal of the DVRO (2021)
    Before the DVRO was set to expire on May 12, 2021, I.Y. filed a request
    for lifetime renewal, or alternatively, for a five-year renewal. In her supporting
    declaration, I.Y. declared M.Y. regularly violated the DVRO, including (1) a 2017
    incident when M.Y. picked up Daughter at German school without a visitation monitor
    2             A transcript of the hearing is not included in the record on appeal.
    3             Although the trial court referred to seven violations of a CPO, it most likely
    was referring to the seven calls M.Y. attempted on March 27, 2015, in violation of the
    EPO. Those calls could not have been in violation of any CPO, the first of which was not
    issued until months later.
    4
    present; (2) a 2019 incident when M.Y. approached I.Y. during a school recital;
    (3) occasions when M.Y. would send text messages to Daughter; and (4) an occasion
    when M.Y. asked his adult son to text I.Y. on his behalf. In his opposition, M.Y. denied
    that these events constituted violations of the DVRO.
    At the four-day hearing, the trial court (Judge Carmen R. Luege) heard
    testimony from I.Y., M.Y., and his treating psychiatrist. To save time, the court informed
    the parties it was treating the underlying facts that led to the issuance of the original
    DVRO as “credible” and “having been proven.” It stated it was taking judicial notice of
    the entire court file, so the parties needed only to “refer to all the documents without
    having to ask” for judicial notice.
    After taking the matter under submission, the trial court denied the request
    to renew the DVRO (the Denial Order). The court addressed the four significant events
    that I.Y. alleged to be violations of the DVRO and found she “failed to produce credible
    and persuasive evidence [M.Y.]’s conduct between 2017 and the time of hearing
    constituted DVRO violations.”
    With respect to the 2017 German school pickup, the main facts are not in
    dispute. About 8:15 a.m. one Saturday, I.Y. texted M.Y. through TalkingParents, a
    communication program, asking him to “please pick [Daughter up at German school that
    day] and let me know if it doesn’t work out.” M.Y. saw the message around 11 a.m. and
    responded three minutes later to inform I.Y. that he did not know if his visitation monitor
    would be able to make it. He added, “Since I do not know when she will, please pick her
    up. I will also go there alone just in case you do not get this message. I will be 100 years
    [sic] away.” I.Y. did not view the message until two days later. When asked why she did
    not turn on the message alert feature on TalkingParents, I.Y. testified, “Because I don’t
    want to be available at whims [sic] notice. I want to decide when I read the messages,
    and I get e-mail notifications every time a message is sent by [M.Y.]” Once M.Y. picked
    5
    up Daughter, he had her call I.Y. to let her know. I.Y. had M.Y. drop Daughter off at her
    home and called the police to report the violation. M.Y. waited in his car for about
    15 minutes before driving away. The court found M.Y.’s reason for picking up Daughter
    without a monitor “more credible and persuasive than [I.Y.]’s presentation of the facts.”
    It found his 15-minute wait outside the house not a DVRO violation “because he did not
    want to appear like he had avoided the police by leaving the property immediately after
    delivering [Daughter] to [I.Y.’s] home.”
    As for the 2019 school recital, the trial court amended the DVRO to allow
    M.Y. to attend, provided he “maintain a reasonable distance from [I.Y.] and is not to
    interact with her at the recital.” But immediately after the recital, M.Y. approached I.Y.
    and proposed he start his visitation with Daughter immediately, rather than wait four
    more hours for the regularly scheduled custodial exchange. The court found that the
    contact was “peaceful” and I.Y.’s description of it was “an exaggerated effort” to
    establish a DVRO violation. The court noted that although I.Y. described the
    conversation as “unwanted,” “bothersome,” and “unpleasant,” she testified that it did not
    cause her fear.
    The trial court found I.Y. had “engaged in multiple instances of
    exaggerated testimony about particular incidents leading the [c]ourt to conclude that
    [I.Y.] lacks credibility.”
    The court found that M.Y.’s efforts to have his adult son contact I.Y.—the
    son was asking her to check her TalkingParents messages—were appropriate because
    they concerned “an urgent custody-related timing issue.” It did not find any DVRO
    violation resulting from M.Y.’s communications with Daughter. The court did not
    believe the nature of either communications would cause I.Y. to have “genuine and
    reasonable” apprehension of further abuse. The court rejected I.Y.’s claim that M.Y. was
    6
    stalking her while she and Daughter were on a six-week trip in Germany, by asking
    Daughter for their address to serve I.Y. court papers there.
    Although it found no DVRO violations, the trial continued to analyze
    factors to determine whether I.Y. had reasonable apprehension of future abuse if the
    DVRO were not renewed and whether her apprehension was genuine and reasonable.
    Ultimately, the court found that I.Y. failed to establish these facts by a preponderance of
    the evidence and denied the renewal request.
    DISCUSSION
    I.Y. contends the trial court wrongly took judicial notice of the entire
    underlying court file. She also contends it applied the wrong legal standard by
    (1) allowing M.Y. to challenge the evidence and findings underlying the issuance of the
    DVRO; (2) disregarding his abusive litigation tactics; (3) disregarding his violations of
    the DVRO; and (4) considering his state of mind in violating the DVRO. For all but the
    third contention, we disagree that the trial court erred. As for the alleged DVRO
    violations, we agree with I.Y. that M.Y. violated the DVRO, but we nonetheless affirm
    because I.Y. fails to show the errors resulted in a miscarriage of justice.
    I.     Standard of Review
    We review a denial of a request to renew a DVRO for abuse of discretion.
    (Ashby v. Ashby (2021) 
    68 Cal.App.5th 491
    , 509 (Ashby).) We review claimed
    evidentiary errors under the same standard. (In re Marriage of F.M. & M.M. (2021)
    
    65 Cal.App.5th 106
    , 116.) “An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court exceeds
    the bounds of reason,” that is, when its ruling “is arbitrary, capricious, or patently
    absurd.” (Heidi S. v. David H. (2016) 
    1 Cal.App.5th 1150
    , 1163.) But when deciding the
    legal question of “‘“whether a trial court applied the correct legal standard to an issue in
    exercising its discretion,”’” we apply a de novo review. (Ashby, at p. 509.) We presume
    the trial court order is correct, “‘and all intendments and presumptions are indulged to
    7
    support it on matters as to which the record is silent.’” (Ibid.) The appellant bears the
    “‘burden to affirmatively demonstrate error.’” (Ibid.)
    Even when error is shown, “we will not substitute our opinion and divest
    the trial court of its discretionary power unless [the appellant] shows a clear case of abuse
    and a miscarriage of justice.” (In re Marriage of Brewster & Clevenger (2020) 
    45 Cal.App.5th 481
    , 500 (Marriage of Brewster) [emphasis added]; Cal. Const., art. VI,
    § 13.) A miscarriage of justice occurs when “it is reasonably probable that the trial court
    would have reached a result more favorable to the appellant absent the error.” (Jones v.
    Farmers Ins. Exchange (2013) 
    221 Cal.App.4th 986
    , 999; see also In re S.G. (2021)
    
    71 Cal.App.5th 654
    , 673 [“lower court decision applying the incorrect legal standard”
    subject to miscarriage-of-justice limitation].)
    II.    Judicial Notice of the Court File
    I.Y. argues the trial court improperly took judicial notice of the entire court
    file. Not so. First, a trial court can properly take judicial notice of state-court records
    (Evid. Code, § 452, subd. (d)), including the “entire trial court file” (see, e.g., In re
    Marriage of Wilson & Bodine (2012) 
    207 Cal.App.4th 768
    , 770, fn. 1 [taking judicial
    notice of “entire trial court file”]). Although judicial notice generally may not be taken of
    the truth of hearsay statements in those records (Williams v. Wraxall (1995)
    
    33 Cal.App.4th 120
    , 130, fn. 7), I.Y. does not identify any time when the court erred in
    that way, and she therefore fails to show “how [the alleged error] affected the judgment.”
    (Shuster v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP (2012) 
    211 Cal.App.4th 505
    , 512, fn. 4.)
    Indeed, at the close of evidence, the trial court made clear it was no longer taking judicial
    notice of the entire record and that the parties were expected to submit written requests
    for judicial notice of records for the court to review. In any event, I.Y. waived the
    argument by failing to object below. (Shuster, at p. 512, fn. 4.)
    8
    III.   Legal Standard Applied
    I.Y. next contends that the trial court failed to apply the correct legal
    standard. We reject this general contention. In the Denial Order, the trial court recited
    the following correct legal standard.
    Family Code section 6345, subdivision (a), provides in relevant part, a
    DVRO “may be renewed upon the request of a party . . . without a showing of further
    abuse since the issuance of the original order.” (Emphasis added.) Citing Ritchie v.
    Konrad (2004) 
    115 Cal.App.4th 1275
    , 1283 (Ritchie) and Ashby, supra, 68 Cal.App.5th
    at pp. 509-510, the trial court acknowledged that it is “unnecessary for the protected party
    to introduce or the court to consider actual acts of abuse the restrained party committed
    after the original order went into effect.” Instead, the court must determine “whether the
    protected party has [‘]a reasonable apprehension[’] abuse will occur at some time in the
    future if the protective order is allowed to expire.” (Ashby, at p. 510; Ritchie, at p. 1288.)
    “A trial court should renew the protective order, if, and only if, it finds by a
    preponderance of the evidence that the protected party entertains a ‘reasonable
    apprehension’ of future abuse. . . . [T]his does not mean the court must find it is more
    likely than not future abuse will occur if the protective order is not renewed. It only
    means the evidence demonstrates it is more probable than not there is a sufficient risk of
    future abuse to find the protected party’s apprehension is genuine and reasonable.”
    (Ashby, at p. 510; Ritchie, at p. 1290 [emphasis added by trial court].)
    The trial court listed the five factors to consider in determining the
    genuineness and reasonableness of a party’s apprehension: (1) the factual basis of the
    initial DVRO; (2) any significant changes in the circumstances surrounding the events
    justifying the DVRO; (3) whether the restrained and protected parties have moved on
    with their lives so that the opportunity and likelihood of future abuse has diminished;
    (4) whether changes in the parties’ lives have enhanced the opportunity and possibility of
    9
    future abuse; and (5) the burden of the protective order on the restrained party. (Ritchie,
    supra, 115 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1290-1292.) The court noted the fifth factor would not
    justify denying a DVRO renewal where there is reasonable apprehension of future acts of
    physical abuse.
    Having recited more or less the same standard in her opening brief, I.Y.
    fails to demonstrate the court applied the wrong legal standard.
    IV.    Alleged Evidentiary Errors
    I.Y.’s four examples of how the trial court applied the wrong legal standard
    are more accurately described as complaints of evidentiary error. In essence, she argues
    the trial court considered inadmissible evidence or evidence for an improper purpose
    (M.Y.’s challenge to the evidence and findings underlying the issuance of the DVRO and
    his state of mind in violating the DVRO) and it refused to properly weigh relevant
    evidence (M.Y.’s litigation tactics and violations of the DVRO). We address each
    complaint in turn.
    A.     The Evidence and Findings Underlying the Initial DVRO
    I.Y.’s first complaint is that the trial court impermissibly allowed M.Y. to
    “challenge the truth of the evidence and findings underlying the initial order.” (Ritchie,
    supra, 115 Cal.App.4th at p. 1290.) Specifically, M.Y. explained that he punched a hole
    in the wall because he was upset over a work dispute, not because of I.Y., and that she
    saw the hole the day after it happened. He also testified that he “did not throw the dresser
    down as [I.Y. had] described.” He instead claimed he pushed the dresser, caught it
    before it fell to the ground, and then decided to let it go, at which point it fell to the
    ground. We find no reversible error.
    Assuming M.Y.’s testimony should have been excluded, I.Y. cannot show
    resulting prejudice. In the Denial Order, the trial court expressly “accept[ed] as proven
    10
    facts [M.Y.’s] conduct as described in [I.Y’s] request for a restraining order filed on May
    13, 2016” and “considered [M.Y.’s] abusive conduct during the marriage.”
    B.      M.Y.’s Litigation Conduct
    To show M.Y. was harassing her, I.Y. testified that every year on his
    birthday, he filed a request for order (RFO) to change the custodial arrangement without
    presenting new facts and that he did not appear at one of those hearings. I.Y. contends
    the trial court erred by disregarding these harassing litigation tactics. We are
    unpersuaded.
    I.Y. correctly notes that “custody and financial disputes are often used by a
    restrained party as a pretext to continue harassing and controlling the protected party.”
    (Ashby, supra, 68 Cal.App.5th at p. 516.) And a trial court can “find, where appropriate,
    that a party’s litigation strategies and tactics are evidence of inappropriate behavior that
    provides grounds for a restraining order’s renewal.” (Lister v. Bowen (2013) 
    215 Cal.App.4th 319
    , 336.)
    Here, the record suggests the trial court considered the allegation of M.Y.’s
    inappropriate litigation tactics. Over his objection, the trial court allowed I.Y. to testify
    about his repeated, unsuccessful RFO’s. The court reasoned, “[I]f there was an RFO
    every year, and there was a ruling every year, then those two things need to be put
    together for me. [¶] And if it shows some pattern, then I will infer that -- I mean, [I.Y.’s
    counsel] can argue what the pattern is based on the specific record.” By finding no issue
    with M.Y.’s litigation conduct, the court impliedly rejected I.Y.’s argument.
    I.Y. also complains the court improperly considered her testimony to find
    that her renewal request was motivated by custody considerations. She testified that the
    RFO’s were “disruptive” and “harassing” and that it was “unfair” for M.Y. to ask for
    more time with Daughter. From this testimony the court inferred I.Y.’s main “fear” was
    that expiration of the DVRO would “lead to time-sharing modifications” in favor of
    11
    M.Y., “rather than [from] genuine apprehension about future abuse.” This was a
    reasonable inference for the trial court to draw. This court “‘has no power to judge the
    effect or value of, or to weigh the evidence; to consider the credibility of witnesses; or to
    resolve conflicts in, or make inferences or deductions from the evidence. We review a
    cold record and, unlike a trial court, have no opportunity to observe the appearance and
    demeanor of the witnesses. [Citation.] “Issues of fact and credibility are questions for
    the trial court.” [Citations.] It is not an appellate court’s function, in short, to
    redetermine the facts.’” (In re S.A. (2010) 
    182 Cal.App.4th 1128
    , 1140.)
    C.     The DVRO Violations
    I.Y. argues the trial court erred by finding that none of the following six
    examples constituted DVRO violations: (1) M.Y. directed his adult son to text I.Y.,
    despite the DVRO prohibiting him from contacting I.Y. except through TalkingParents;
    (2) M.Y. approached I.Y. at a school recital, despite the DVRO requiring that he “shall
    maintain a reasonable distance from [I.Y.] and is not to interact with her at the recital;”
    (3) While I.Y. and Daughter were vacationing in Germany, M.Y. asked Daughter to
    confirm I.Y.’s family home address there to serve her with an RFO, despite the DVRO
    prohibiting him from keeping them “under surveillance;” (4) M.Y. texted Daughter
    outside his custodial time; (5) M.Y. picked up Daughter from German school without a
    monitor, despite the requirement of monitored visits, and waited 15 minutes at I.Y.’s
    house after dropping off Daugther; and (6) M.Y. tried unsuccessfully to see Daughter at
    school before the monitor arrived, talked to someone there about using that time to tutor
    her, and left gifts for her there. While we agree that many of these actions were
    violations of the DVRO, we nonetheless conclude that I.Y. fails to establish the trial
    court’s erroneous ruling resulted in a miscarriage of justice. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 13.)
    Stated another way, we are satisfied the trial court would have reached the
    same result even if it had determined that M.Y’s conduct violated the DVRO. The trial
    12
    court correctly recognized that a “violation of a DVRO can support a finding of
    reasonable apprehension.” Still, the court expressly found that M.Y.’s testimony was
    credible and that I.Y. “engaged in multiple instances of exaggerated testimony about
    particular incidents leading the [c]ourt to conclude that [she] lacks credibility.” In
    accepting M.Y.’s version of events, the court essentially found that M.Y.’s conduct was
    not the result of ill will toward I.Y., and it did not believe I.Y.’s claimed apprehension of
    abuse was genuine and reasonable. As the reviewing court, we do not second-guess the
    trial court’s credibility determinations. (Marriage of Brewster, supra, 45 Cal.App.5th at
    p. 500.)
    Having found no violations of the DVRO, the trial court still considered the
    Ritchie factors to determine whether I.Y. had established “by a preponderance of the
    evidence that the protected party entertains a ‘reasonable apprehension’ of future
    abuse[, i.e., that] the evidence demonstrates it is more probable than not there is a
    sufficient risk of future abuse to find the protected party’s apprehension is genuine and
    reasonable.” (Ashby, supra, 68 Cal.App.5th at p. 510.) First, the trial court accepted as
    true the factual basis for the DVRO, but noted that M.Y. never hit, pushed, or grabbed
    I.Y. Second, the court found “significant changes in the circumstances surrounding the
    events justifying the initial 2016 DVRO.” In 2016, M.Y. was not under the care of a
    psychiatrist, was abusing prescription medication, and was unemployed and sleeping
    most of the day. The court credited the testimony of M.Y.’s treating psychiatrist that
    M.Y. was taking medication that improved his psychiatric issues, was no longer abusing
    prescription medication, and was employed fulltime. Third, the court found that M.Y.
    “ha[d] moved on with his life so that the opportunity and likelihood of future abuse [wa]s
    diminished.” He completed courses on anger management and coparenting skills, which
    “indicate[d] a recognition on [his] part that he caused the marital problems and that he
    has gained an understanding on how to manage his behavior towards [I.Y.] to avoid
    13
    confrontation.” He maintained a strong relationship with Daughter. Finally, as stated
    ante, the court made a factual determination that I.Y. was mainly concerned M.Y. would
    receive more time with Daughter if the DVRO were not renewed. While other judges
    may have reached the opposite result, we cannot say the evidence here compels it as a
    matter of law.
    I.Y.’s reliance on Lister v. Brown (2013) 
    215 Cal.App.4th 319
     does not
    change the analysis. The Lister court noted “that any violation of a restraining order is
    very serious[ ] and gives very significant support for renewal of a restraining order.” (Id.
    at p. 335.) But the issue in Lister was whether a trial court’s decision to renew a DVRO
    was supported by substantial evidence—not whether evidence of restraining-order
    violations compelled a determination that the DVRO must be renewed as a matter of law.
    (Id. at p. 322.)
    We conclude it is not reasonably probable that I.Y. would have obtained a
    more favorable outcome even if the trial court had found M.Y. violated the DVRO.
    D.      M.Y.’s State of Mind
    Finally, I.Y. contends the trial court may not consider whether M.Y.
    intended to violate the DVRO—it matters only that he did violate it. I.Y.’s cited
    authority, however, does not support her position. In Rybolt v. Riley (2018)
    
    20 Cal.App.5th 864
    , 868, 871-872 (Rybolt), the restrained party generally denied
    intending to intimidate or harass the protected party, but the trial court found the
    restrained party had violated the DVRO several times and that circumstances had not
    sufficiently changed to reduce the need for continued protection. The appellate court
    affirmed the renewal of the DVRO, noting the trial court had properly considered the
    Ritchie factors. (Id. at pp. 873-875, 877.) Rybolt does not hold that a trial court is barred
    from considering the restrained party’s state of mind when his or her actions violate a
    restraining order. To the contrary, a court can and should consider “whether the
    14
    restrained and protected parties have moved on with their lives so far that the opportunity
    and likelihood of future abuse has diminished to the degree they no longer support a
    renewal of the order.” (Ritchie, supra, 115 Cal.App.4th at p. 1291.) Inquiry into the
    restrained party’s state of mind could certainly be relevant to that question.
    DISPOSITION
    The order is affirmed. Respondent shall recover his costs on appeal.
    DELANEY, J.
    WE CONCUR:
    MOORE, ACTING P. J.
    SANCHEZ, J.
    15
    

Document Info

Docket Number: G061000A

Filed Date: 5/16/2024

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 5/16/2024