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Gabriel Bodiv.Kerrie Ryan

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A20A2102
DecidedFebruary 1, 2021
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CivilCivil ProcedureStatutory InterpretationSufficiency of the EvidenceReversal
Case Summary

Kerrie Ryan obtained a 12-month protective order against Gabriel Bodi, alleging that his repeated contact with her daughter and entry onto her property established stalking. Bodi appealed, arguing that the evidence did not satisfy the statutory elements. The Court of Appeals held that the record did not show the required pattern of intimidating and harassing contact directed at Ryan. Bodi had continued a relationship with Ryan’s daughter and had entered the property despite a no-trespass warning, but that conduct was not directed at Ryan within the meaning of the stalking statute. The evidence also did not establish that the relationship with the daughter was nonconsensual. Ryan had not filed the petition on her daughter’s behalf, and the daughter did not testify. Although the court acknowledged the troubling circumstances, it held that statutory requirements and the evidence controlled. The court reversed the protective order.

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