- Ref # CAC00105
- June 11, 2023
Temporary DVROs: What if the subject hasn’t been served? What if they don’t know it exists?
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Pen. Code § 836(c)(2) and a Temporary Domestic Violence Restraining Order
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Pen. Code § 148(a)(1) and a Suspect’s Resistance to the Enforcement of a Temporary Domestic Violence Restraining Order
Upon notice of the existence of a temporary domestic violence restraining order and after given an opportunity to comply, a person violates P.C. § 148(a)(1) by resisting officers who are attempting to enforce the order by refusing to comply with the terms of the order.
Defendant Christopher James Kenney’s mother (“C.K.”) decided one day in January 2021 that it was time to exercise a little “tough love” with her 29-year-old druggie son and 86 the bum out of the house. The idea was that once he was made homeless, defendant might voluntarily move into a residential drug rehab treatment facility. (Fat chance.)
To enforce the eviction, C.K. obtained a temporary domestic violence restraining order (“DVRO”), although defendant (not being present) was not aware of this at the time. Pending a hearing scheduled for 15 days later, the court ordered absent defendant to “take only personal clothing and belongings needed until the (pending) hearing and move out immediately.” In an accompanying order, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department was directed to “remove” defendant from the residence.
Upon C.K. telling defendant to leave, he did so on Jan. 6. But two days later, defendant returned. C.K. asked him “What are you doing here ” She also told him: “You know you could be arrested.” Showing his disrespect for his mother by telling her “F—k you,” and that he’d leave after taking a shower, he stomped off to his bedroom. Having to drive her grandson to school, C.K. told defendant, “That’s not how restraining orders work,” and that they would talk about it when she returned. However, C.K. had a live-in boyfriend who was not as patient. Before C.K. returned, the boyfriend called the sheriff’s department to report the presence of “a disorderly druggie” who was “loaded to the gills” and “not supposed to be on the property.” He told the dispatcher ....
