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Date: 07-17-2024
Case Style:
Douglas Joseph Thomas v. Caitlin Linglong Li
Case Number: DVCE23-001552
Judge: Susan F. Greenhawt
Court: Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court, Broward County, Florida
Plaintiff's Attorney:
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Defendant's Attorney:
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Description:
Fort Lauderdale, Florida family law lawyers represented the parties in a domestic violence protective order permanent injunction law dispute.
Thomas did not want Li to sit in the front seat of the car as they were leaving the beach that day. Although Thomas denied doing so, Li testified that he "hip-checked" her by "bump[ing her] with his hip" to prevent her from getting in the front seat prior to their drive home.
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After returning home, Thomas entered the bathroom while Li was showering and dumped ten kitchen knives onto the shower floor, stating "[h]ere, if you want to do damage, do damage." Thomas explained during his testimony that Li had the harmful habit of cutting herself and because he believed she was cutting herself in the shower, he threw "a drawer full of utensils" into the shower to "shock" Li out of cutting herself.
Li testified that, after her shower, she went in the den of their home. She explained that Thomas followed her and set a loaded gun on the table in front of her and told her that if she really wanted to hurt herself, "here's something to do it with." Thomas then left the home and, on his way out, told her that when he came back, he hoped she was dead. After he left, Li "unloaded the gun, set the magazine in one place, all bullets in another, and the gun in a third place." Li testified that, when Thomas returned to the residence, he expressed disappointment that "the floor wasn't covered in blood" and she was not dead.
Thomas denied that the gun incident occurred. However, an email that he had sent to Li in November 2022, which was introduced into evidence at the hearing, included the admission that he had "lost it that day" and "was super angry and said a lot of things [he] shouldn't have said."
Li testified that Thomas's confrontational behavior continued the day after the beach trip. As she explained in her testimony, while she was "taking a call in the guest bedroom" the next day, Thomas entered the room "holding a large kitchen knife" and told Li that "if [she] really wanted to hurt [her]self," the knife was something that could "do more damage." Thomas, however, denied that this incident ever occurred.
Li moved out of the parties' marital residence two days later-on October 17, 2022. While she explained in her testimony that she did so "because [she] no longer felt that it was safe for [her] to be in the same place as [Thomas], or for him to know where [she] was[,]" she did not seek an injunction for protection against domestic violence at that time.
Thomas moved out of the marital residence in late December 2022, when he moved to South Carolina to start a new job.
Despite Thomas having moved out of Florida, Li did not return to the marital residence until late February or early March 2023. Upon Li's return, she testified that she found her belongings packed up "in the corner of the house" with "notes all over them" written in Thomas's handwriting. Li also testified that Thomas had "scribbled numerous things on [her] mattress" that "were to the effect of wishing [her] ill," or "hop[ing] that bad things would happen to [her]." The messages, as introduced into evidence, were angry and accusatory, but not threatening.
Li testified that between November and December 2022, Thomas regularly sent emails to her personal and work emails from multiple different email addresses despite her request that he not communicate with her. During this period, Thomas emailed Li at least once every two weeks and sometimes five times in one day. Li testified that she regarded the tone of his emails as vindictive and angry. However, the substance of his emails mostly lamented the demise of the parties' relationship and laid blame for its failure on Li. Thomas's emails during this period expressed sadness and a sense of betrayal, but never threatened Li or indicated in any way that he intended to return to Florida.
Li unequivocally testified that Thomas never threatened her or indicated that he wished to harm her. Yet she still testified that she was afraid and believed he will return to Florida.
The trial court found Li was either "a victim of domestic violence" or had "reasonable cause to believe that []she [was] in imminent danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence[.]" Based on this finding, the trial court granted Li a permanent injunction[1] that not only prohibited Thomas from engaging in any acts of domestic violence against her, but also directed him not to have any contact with her or be within 500 feet of her residence or 100 feet of her car, or deface or destroy her personal property, including her car. The trial court further directed Thomas to surrender to law enforcement all firearms in his possession as well as any concealed weapons permits or other gun licenses he might have.
Outcome: Reversed and remanded with instructions.
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