Walk It Through: The Texts That Will Not Stop
Messages meant to frighten, a car outside the house, and the two degrees of stalking.
After a breakup, an ex sends dozens of texts a day, some threatening to hurt the new partner.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One former partner. The petition for the protection order itself, workplace orders, online impersonation and civil claims are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Course of conductRepeated acts of nonconsensual contact with the victim or a family or household member, such as following or surveillance, which is what stalking is built from.
- Deadly weaponUnder the concealed weapons chapter, any dirk, dirk knife, bowie knife or dagger, and any instrument designed or intended to be readily capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.
- FelonyA crime punishable by death or by imprisonment in the state prison. Unless a section sets another punishment, it carries up to five years, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.
- MisdemeanorAny crime that is not a felony. Unless a section sets another punishment, it carries up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
- Protection orderA civil order on a petition for a victim of domestic violence, which may exclude the respondent from the home, award temporary custody and last up to one year after a full hearing.
- VictimA person against whom a crime or juvenile offense was committed, with rights to fairness, notice, presence and to be heard, exercised by a written request filed with the court clerk.