TALLAHASSEE — The First District Court of Appeal has upheld a Leon County Circuit Court's ruling that granted a woman's dating violence injunction against her former boyfriend who struck her in the face and who ignored continued warnings to stop harassment and stalking.
According to the Oct. 11 First District Court of Appeal ruling, Sajed Khan filed an appeal of the dating violence injunction filed against him by Laura Deutschman.
"Considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee, Mitchell v. Brogden, 249 So. 3d 781 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), we find that the evidence is legally sufficient to support entry of the dating violence injunction based upon a finding of stalking," associate judge Terrance Ketchel wrote in the appeal court's decision.
Deutschman, who had an eight to 11 month "on again, off again" relationship with Khan, alleges that when the couple had a contentious breakup in November 2017, he began repeatedly texting, e-mailing, sending letters and flowers as well as stalking her, all despite requests from her to stop the contact. According to the district court filing, Deutschman also received what the lower court considered threatening and "hectoring" e-mails from Kahn.
"In this case, the trial judge found that the elements necessary to meet the statutory definition of stalking had been met," Ketchel wrote. "....most important, in spite of the appellee taking formal legal action by way of a cease and desist letter from an attorney as well as having the sheriff contact the appellant, [Khan] continued to repeatedly contact [Deutschman) improperly and without good cause, and the trial judge found that this behavior met the definition of malicious harassment.
"We therefore affirm the circuit court’s grant of the dating violence injunction for a period of one year."
Khan is represented by attorneys Mark Murray and Kevin Robert Alvarez. Deutschman is represented by Thomas Schulte Jr. of Ausley McMullen.