Coburn v. Coburn

• Decision Date: 01 September 1995
• Docket Number: No. 85,85
• Citation: 342 Md. 244,674 A.2d 951
• Parties: William E. COBURN, Jr. v. Marcia COBURN. ,
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 244

342 Md. 244

674 A.2d 951

William E. COBURN, Jr. v. Marcia COBURN.

No. 85, Sept. Term, 1995.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

April 17, 1996.

Mark L. Gitomer (Cardin & Gitomer, P.A., on brief), Baltimore, for petitioner.

Zakia Mahasa, Lisae C. Jordan (Dorothy J. Lennig, Mina Naddaf, on brief), House of Ruth Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, Baltimore, for respondent.

Argued before ELDRIDGE, RODOWSKY, CHASANOW, KARWACKI, BELL and RAKER, JJ., and JOHN F. McAULIFFE, Judge (retired), Specially Assigned.

CHASANOW, Judge.

We are called on in this case to determine whether evidence of alleged prior abusive acts is admissible in a protective order hearing pursuant to Maryland's domestic violence statute, Maryland Code (1984, 1991 Repl.Vol., 1995 Supp.), Family Law Article, §§ 4-501 through 4-516. We hold that such evidence is admissible in light of the remedial purpose of the domestic violence statute and affirm the decision of the circuit court.

I.

The instant case arose out of a petition for protection from domestic violence filed by Marcia Coburn against her estranged husband, William E. Coburn, Jr. The petition was filed pro se on March 3, 1995 in the District Court of Maryland sitting in Baltimore City. It alleged that on February 25, 1995, Mr. Coburn slapped, punched, and threatened Ms. Coburn. Ms. Coburn also noted in the space provided for "other injuries" that she had been the victim of past abuse by Mr. Coburn sometime in July of the previous year, that an ex parte order had been granted and extended several times, and that Mr. Coburn had harassed her over the telephone at her place of employment.

In response to Ms. Coburn's petition, the District Court issued a temporary ex parte order for protection from abuse and scheduled a final protective order hearing for March 10, 1995. The court found that on February 25, 1995, Mr. Coburn shoved Ms. Coburn against a car, hit her in the face open-handed, chased her, and then punched her in the back of her head. The judge also noted a "history of abuse" on the ex parte order.

Mr. Coburn, although served with the ex parte order, failed to appear at the March 10, 1995 protective order hearing. The District Court granted a final protective order in favor of Ms. Coburn effective through September 26, 1995. The judge noted on the order that on February 25, 1995, Mr. Coburn pushed, shoved, punched, and threatened to shoot Ms. Coburn. The order did not, however, mention any incidents of past abuse other than the February 25, 1995 occurrence.

Mr. Coburn appealed the decision and a de novo protective order hearing was held in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. In addition to the alleged abuse occurring on February 25, 1995, the Honorable Kathleen O'Ferrall Friedman heard testimony from Ms. Coburn concerning alleged prior instances of abuse occurring on July 3, July 25, and November 9 of 1994. ¹ A police officer who witnessed part of the November 9, 1994 incident also testified. Mr. Coburn repeatedly objected to the admission of evidence of past abuse, but the judge allowed the testimony. Judge Friedman asked, "do you understand this is not a criminal case, that this is a domestic violence case? Prior injuries that have been caused by the same respondent are relevant in a domestic violence case." At the conclusion of the hearing, the court found in favor of Ms. Coburn and granted her request for protection. The judge summarized her findings on the protective order as follows: "On 2/25/95 [Mr. Coburn] hit, punched and threatened [Ms. Coburn]. On previous occasions he has abused her and put her safety in jeopardy."

Mr. Coburn petitioned for a writ of certiorari to this Court, contending that the issue before Judge Friedman was limited to whether Mr. Coburn abused Ms. Coburn on February 25, 1995 and that accordingly, evidence of alleged instances of prior abuse was inadmissible. We granted certiorari to consider whether a trial judge may admit evidence of alleged prior abuse in a protective order hearing under the domestic violence statute. We hold that due to the remedial, preventive purpose of this legislation, evidence of alleged past abuse is highly relevant to establish the need for protection and the appropriate remedy, and thus is admissible in a protective order hearing.

II.

Preliminarily, we note that the instant case is moot because the final protective order at issue expired on September 26, 1995. A case is moot when there is no longer an existing controversy between the parties at the time it is before the court so that the court cannot provide an effective remedy. Robinson v. Lee, 317 Md. 371, 375, 564 A.2d 395, 397 (1989). Generally, a moot case is dismissed without our deciding the merits of the controversy. State v. Peterson, 315 Md. 73, 82, 553 A.2d 672, 677 (1989). This Court in rare instances, however, may address the merits of a moot case if we are convinced that the case presents unresolved issues in matters of important public concern that, if decided, will establish a rule for future conduct. See Peterson, 315 Md. at 82-83, 553 A.2d at 677. We stated in Lloyd v. Supervisors of Elections, 206 Md. 36, 111 A.2d 379 (1954), that if "the matter involved is likely to recur frequently" and "the same difficulty which prevented the appeal at hand from being heard in time is likely again to prevent a decision," we would be justified in deciding a moot issue. 206 Md. at 43, 111 A.2d at 382.

We exercise our discretion to decide the issue raised in the instant case because it is likely to recur frequently but will escape judicial review by this Court due to the limited duration of protective orders. See § 4-506(g) (protective orders not to exceed 200 days in duration). ² In addition, the issue involves construction of a statute routinely applied by courts of this state, and our interpretation of it will assist judges in determining whether victims of abuse are in need of protection. See Peterson, 315 Md. at 85, 553 A.2d at 678. Because the issue is of public importance, we find more than adequate justification in proceeding to review the merits.

III.

A.

Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women in this country. ³ Elizabeth M. Schneider, The Violence of Privacy, 23 CONN.L.REV. 973, 981 (1991). According to some estimates, there are approximately four million incidents of domestic violence against women annually. Developments in the Law--Legal Responses to Domestic Violence, 106 HARV.L.REV. 1498, 1501 (1993). The problem of domestic abuse, however, remained largely ignored by our society until the last two decades, when national efforts toward legal and social reform began to surface. See Developments in the Law, 106 HARV.L.REV. at 1502, 1505 n. 1; Catherine F. Klein and Leslye E. Orloff, Providing Legal Protection for Battered Women: An Analysis of State Statutes and Case Law, 21 HOFSTRA L.REV. 801, 810 (1993). Since then, domestic abuse has gained widespread public attention. Social service agencies developed battered women's shelters and hotlines, and state legislatures recognized that domestic violence needed to be adequately addressed. ⁴ See The Violence of Privacy, 23 CONN.L.REV. at 974.

B.

It is against this background that in 1980 the Maryland General Assembly enacted the domestic violence statute (the statute). §§ 4-501 through 4-516. ⁵ The statute grants courts the power to issue civil protection orders, which can prohibit a perpetrator of domestic violence from, among other things, abusing, contacting or harassing the victim. ⁶ See §§ 4-505 and 4-506. Through the statute, victims of domestic abuse are offered access to the judicial system to seek emergency relief and protection from their abusers. It has been reported that fourteen-thousand victims sought relief from abuse through filing petitions for temporary protective orders in the courts of this state in 1994 alone. Christina Asquith, Domestic Abuse Cases Multiply, THE BALTIMORE SUN, November 5, 1995, at 1C, col. 7.

The purpose of the domestic abuse statute is to protect and "aid victims of domestic abuse by providing an immediate and effective" remedy. Barbee v. Barbee, 311 Md. 620, 623, 537 A.2d 224, 225 (1988). The statute provides for a wide variety and scope of available remedies designed to separate the parties and avoid future abuse. Thus, the primary goals of the statute are preventive, protective and remedial, not punitive. The legislature did not design the statute as punishment for past conduct; it was instead intended to prevent further harm to the victim.

C.

The statute defines "abuse" as an act that causes serious bodily harm or places a person eligible for relief in fear of imminent serious bodily harm, battery, assault and battery, rape, sexual offense, or false imprisonment. § 4-501(b)(1). Individuals at risk of domestic violence are covered under the statute as "person[s] eligible for relief" and include current or former spouses, cohabitants, relatives by blood, marriage or adoption, parents, stepparents, children or stepchildren, individuals who reside or resided with an alleged abuser for at least 90 days out of the last year before filing a petition, vulnerable adults, and individuals who have a child in common with an alleged abuser. § 4-501(h).

Section 4-504 of the statute authorizes a person eligible for relief (petitioner) to file a petition alleging abuse against the alleged abuser (respondent) ⁷ and requesting immediate and temporary relief from the violence. ⁸ § 4-504(a). A petition may be filed in either a circuit court or District Court. § 4-501(d). The statute requires that the petition be under oath, § 4-504(b)(1)(i), include information of prior or pending action between the parties in any court, provide the nature and extent of the abuse for which relief is being sought, state any previous injury resulting from abuse by the respondent, and provide the whereabouts of the respondent, if known, to facilitate service. § 4-504...