Peterson v. Armstrong, 20130039–CA.

• Decision Date: 17 October 2014
• Docket Number: No. 20130039–CA.,20130039–CA.
• Citation: 2014 UT App 247,337 P.3d 1058
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals
• Parties: Candace PETERSON, Petitioner and Appellee, v. John Andrew ARMSTRONG, Respondent and Appellant.

337 P.3d 1058

2014 UT App 247

Candace PETERSON, Petitioner and Appellee

v.John Andrew ARMSTRONG, Respondent and Appellant.

No. 20130039–CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

Oct. 17, 2014.

Brent D. Young, Provo, and Dallas B. Young, for Appellant.

Gregory N. Skabelund, for Appellee.

Senior Judge PAMELA T. GREENWOOD authored this Memorandum Decision, in which Senior Judge RUSSELL W. BENCH concurred.¹

Memorandum Decision

GREENWOOD, Senior Judge:

¶ 1 John Andrew Armstrong (Husband) appeals from the Fourth District Court's order entering a civil stalking injunction against him and in favor of Candace Peterson (Grandmother). Husband argues that principles of res judicata bar the court from issuing the injunction. We agree and reverse.

¶ 2 Grandmother is Husband's former mother-in-law.² Now divorced from one another, Husband and Grandmother's daughter (Mother) have two children, and Grandmother often cares for the children when they are in Mother's custody. Grandmother and Mother reside in Cache County, and Husband resides in Utah County.

¶ 3 In April 2009, Grandmother and Husband were involved in a situation that resulted in Grandmother calling the police (the 2009 Incident). It began when Husband came to Grandmother's home to pick up the children and parked his car on the private land in front of the home. Husband called Grandmother and she informed him that Mother and the children were not there. Grandmother then requested that Husband leave her property. Husband refused. After Grandmother called for help, the police responded and escorted Husband from the premises.

¶ 4 In April 2012, the parties were engaged in another dispute involving the police (the 2012 Incident). As with the 2009 Incident, this episode began when Husband came to pick up the children from Grandmother. After some confusion about where Husband and Grandmother would meet to exchange the children,³ Husband followed Grandmother and the children in his vehicle as they drove from one location to another. While driving, Husband contacted the police, who instructed him to stop following Grandmother. Nevertheless, Husband continued to follow Grandmother for approximately twenty minutes. Eventually, when Grandmother reached her destination, the children walked to Husband's car and into Husband's custody without further incident.

¶ 5 Approximately four months later, on August 24, 2012, Grandmother filed a request for a civil stalking injunction against Husband in the First District Court (the First District Court Case). In her petition, Grandmother described the 2009 Incident and the 2012 Incident, as well as two other alleged contacts, as stalking events. Without holding a hearing,⁴ the First District Court issued an order denying Grandmother's request for an ex parte civil stalking injunction. The First District Court's order indicated that the events described by Grandmother were not stalking because “the last episode was April 27, 2012 [and Grandmother] is seeking a stalking injunction 4 months later so no immediate fear or alleged threats.” The court's order continued, “[Grandmother] may consider other legal proceedings to restrain [Husband's] alleged conduct.”

¶ 6 Seventeen days later, Grandmother filed a second request for a civil stalking injunction, this time in the Fourth District Court (the Fourth District Court Case).⁵ Grandmother's petition again described the 2009 Incident and the 2012 Incident as stalking events. Grandmother also alleged six other stalking incidents in support of her petition. The Fourth District Court issued an ex parte temporary civil stalking injunction that was served on Husband. Within ten days, Husband requested a hearing. Husband also filed a motion to dismiss the stalking injunction, arguing that Grandmother's petition was not made in good faith because the First District Court had denied a similar petition, which relied upon the same incidents as the petition filed in the Fourth District Court. Grandmother opposed the motion, acknowledging that the 2009 Incident and the 2012 Incident had been raised in the petition filed in the First District Court but arguing that the First District Court made no decision on the merits of the request.⁶

¶ 7 The Fourth District Court held an evidentiary hearing on November 9, 2012. At the end of the hearing, the court denied Husband's motion to dismiss, declaring that the denial of Grandmother's application for an ex parte stalking injunction in the First District Court did not constitute an adjudicatory proceeding that rose to the level of res judicata or collateral estoppel. After hearing the evidence, the Fourth District Court found “reason to believe” that the stalking had occurred. The court made findings regarding the 2009 Incident and the 2012 Incident, and determined that both episodes constituted stalking. The court did not address the six other incidents that Grandmother alleged in her petition.⁷ The Fourth District Court granted the stalking injunction against Husband. Husband appeals.

¶ 8 Husband challenges the Fourth District Court's grant of the stalking injunction, arguing that the First District Court's dismissal of Grandmother's earlier petition barred the Fourth District Court from issuing an injunction predicated upon the same alleged stalking events. Whether res judicata bars an action presents a question of law. Macris & Assocs., Inc. v. Neways, Inc., 2000 UT 93, ¶ 17, 16 P.3d 1214. We review the district court's decision on a question of law for correctness. Id. Husband also argues that the Fourth District Court should have granted his request for attorney fees and that he should be awarded fees incurred on appeal.

¶ 9 We begin by outlining the statutory procedures for obtaining a civil stalking injunction. Under Utah law, a person who believes he or she is the victim of stalking “may file a verified written petition for a civil stalking injunction against the alleged stalker with the district court in the district in which the petitioner or respondent resides or in which any of the events occurred.” Utah Code Ann. § 77–3a–101(2) (LexisNexis 2012).⁸ The court may issue an ex parte civil stalking injunction if it “determines that there is reason to believe that an offense of stalking has occurred.” Id. § 773a–101(5)(a) (emphasis added). The ex parte injunction must be served on the respondent, and if the respondent requests an evidentiary hearing within ten days of service, the court shall hold a hearing, after which the court may modify, revoke, or continue the injunction. Id. § 77–3a–101(6) –(7). For the court to enter a permanent injunction, “[t]he burden is on the petitioner to show by a preponderance of the evidence that stalking of the petitioner by the respondent has occurred.” Id. § 77–3a–101(7) (emphasis added). For purposes of the statute governing civil stalking injunctions,

[a] person is guilty of stalking who intentionally or knowingly engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person and knows or should know that the course of conduct would cause a reasonable person: (a) to fear for the person's own safety or the safety of a third person; or (b) to suffer other emotional distress.

Id. § 76–5–106.5(2).

¶ 10 Husband argues that res judicata barred the Fourth District Court from issuing a civil stalking injunction based upon the same two events as were alleged in Grandmother's unsuccessful petition filed in the First District Court. Res judicata refers to “the overall doctrine of the preclusive effects to be given to judgments.” Moss v. Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless, 2012 UT 42, ¶ 20, 285 P.3d 1157 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). There are two branches of res judicata: claim preclusion and issue preclusion. Id. “Claim preclusion corresponds to causes of action; issue preclusion corresponds to the facts and issues underlying causes of action.” Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

¶ 11 Claim preclusion “bars a party from prosecuting in a subsequent action a claim that has been fully litigated previously.” State v. Sommerville, 2013 UT App 40, ¶ 30, 297 P.3d 665 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). A prior judgment has a preclusive effect when a later lawsuit “is entirely predicated on the same set of operative facts and the same alleged injury.” Nipper v. Douglas, 2004 UT App 118, ¶ 10, 90 P.3d 649. In other words, claim preclusion applies when “the issues are the same, the facts are the same, and the evidence is the same as in the previous litigation.” Id. ¶ 11 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Claim preclusion applies when three elements are satisfied:

(1) both suits must involve the same parties or their privies, (2) the claim that is alleged to be barred must have been presented in the first suit or be one that could and should have been raised in the first action, and (3) the first suit must have resulted in a final judgment on the merits.

Moss, 2012 UT 42, ¶ 21, 285 P.3d 1157 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The third element is relevant to both claim preclusion and issue preclusion because “both ... require that the first suit must have resulted in a final judgment on the merits.”⁹ Sommerville, 2013 UT App 40, ¶ 31, 297 P.3d 665 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). In this case, Husband and Grandmother agree that the first two elements of claim preclusion are satisfied. Thus, we focus our analysis on the third element of claim preclusion—whether the action in the First District Court resulted in a final judgment on the merits.

¶ 12 Husband argues that the denial of the First District Court ex parte petition for a civil stalking injunction barred the matter from going forward in a different district court and ended the controversy between the parties as to the allegations in the first petition. Husband contends that the First District Court's denial of Grandmother's ex parte petition was a final judgment on the merits because the court determined that Grandmother...