Temporary Restraining Order

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Petitioner v. Randy L. Johnson

Case No.: 2023AP000394

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Gill, JJ.

Focus:

According to the petition, after the Petitioner moved out of Johnson’s house, Johnson “continuously harassed, verbally abused, and threatened” the Petitioner multiple times over the ensuing seven months. Johnson appeals from an order granting the Petitioner a four-year domestic abuse injunction. He challenges the denial of his motion to dismiss the petition and to vacate a temporary restraining order (TRO), as well as the issuance of the injunction. The circuit court found the Petitioner’s testimony regarding prior physical abuse to be more credible than Johnson’s testimony, and it concluded that the Petitioner’s testimony along with Johnson’s admission that he asked the Petitioner if there was reason he should not “beat the shit out of” her were sufficient to establish grounds for the injunction. The incidents in which Johnson grabbed the Petitioner and dragged her out of the house, pressed his knee to her chest, and grabbed her around the neck involved the intentional infliction of physical pain or injury. The texts Johnson sent the Petitioner saying that people like her need to be exterminated and questioning why he should not “beat the shit out of” her involved veiled threats of future infliction of pain or injury and constituted harassment within the meaning of the stalking statute. Therefore, the evidence provided reasonable grounds to believe that Johnson engaged in, or would engage in, domestic abuse.

Affirmed.

Decided 02/21/24

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