Ice Water Marks End of 27 Yr Relationship & Order of Protection

Tennessee law case summary on orders of protection hearing in family law from the Court of Appeals.

Anna Lois Long v. Sammy Lee Brown – Tennessee orders of protection

Anna Lois Long and Sammy Lee Brown lived together for 27 years in a house owned by Brown.  Two days before Christmas in 2012, Brown got into a heated argument and eventually threw a cup of ice water in Long’s face.  He later testified that she had been abusing him verbally, and that the purpose of the ice water was to “cause her to cool off.”  Brown went to bed, only to be awakened by the police, who arrested him for domestic assault.

On January 4, Long went to court to obtain an order of protection.  An ex parte order was granted the same day.  Brown later asked the court for an order requiring Long to vacate the premises so that he could have exclusive possession of his residence.  Long stated that she wanted to move out, but lacked the financial resources to do so.  Therefore, she asked for possession of the home.

The court held a hearing and made the order of protection mutual.  He also ordered Brown to pay $2,500 for moving expenses, but allowed Long to stay in the house for two more weeks.

Long appealed the case to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  She argued that the trial court had no grounds to make the order mutual, since she had never committed domestic abuse.  The Court agreed with her.  It noted that the Tennessee statute authorizes an order only if the party has committed domestic abuse.  Since there was no evidence that she had, the Court of Appeals agreed that it was error to enter an order against her.

Brown also argued that throwing the ice water did not constitute domestic abuse.  But the court reasoned that his action in doing so could reasonably be seen as a harbinger of things to come.

The court also noted that the order itself did not comply with all of the statutory requirements, and asked the lower court on remand to put it into compliance.  The court also held that Long was entitled to attorney fees on appeal, and asked the lower court to compute those fees.

No. E2013-00802-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 28, 2014).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

For more information, see Domestic Violence & Tennessee Divorce Law | Get Safe Now.