Not
final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
An
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Lower
Tribunal No. 17-272 William Altfield, Judge.
Michael P. Mirer, for appellant.
Evgeniya Zarudny, in proper person.
Before
EMAS, FERNANDEZ, and LINDSEY, JJ.
LINDSEY, J.
Appellant
Dennis Zarudny (the "husband") appeals the trial
court's Final Judgment of Injunction for Protection
Against Domestic Violence with Child(ren) (the "Final
Injunction") entered on February 16, 2017. This Court
has jurisdiction under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure
9.030(b)(1)(A). Because the Final Injunction was supported by
competent, substantial evidence, we affirm.
I.
BACKGROUND
Dennis
and Evgeniya Zarudny had been married for nearly seven years
when things began to unravel during the fall of 2016.
However, it is the events commencing on New Year's Eve of
2016, culminating with the Petition filed on January 5, 2017
by Evgeniya Zarudny (the "wife") For Injunction For
Protection Against Domestic Violence With Children (the
"Petition"), that bring this case before us.
In the
Petition, the wife alleged that the husband is addicted to
alcohol, abuses marijuana, and refuses to take medication for
his mental disability. The wife further alleged that on
December 30, 2016, she got into a verbal conflict with the
husband over booking flights for a vacation. Following the
argument, the wife stated that the husband was upset and
began drinking while she took their daughter to the swimming
pool. The wife further stated that on December 31, 2016, she
woke up and found the husband asleep on the couch after a
night of drinking and that the husband started drinking again
around 7:30 a.m. and proceeded to consume alcohol throughout
the rest of the day.
The
wife alleged that a physical confrontation between her and
the husband occurred later that day when the husband disabled
the lock to their twenty-month-old daughter's bedroom
door in order to gain entry while the wife was putting the
daughter down for a nap. The wife stated that, despite her
protest that their daughter needed to sleep, the husband
began playing with the daughter and shoved the wife into the
door to prevent the wife from stopping him. She further
stated that a verbal argument followed, after which the wife
left the apartment with their daughter for a few hours.
The
wife and the daughter returned later in the evening of
December 31, 2016, whereupon the wife stated that the husband
asked her to prepare everything for New Year's Eve while
he took a nap on the couch. The wife also stated that the
husband was upset that she woke him up only twenty minutes
before midnight and that she only bought one bottle of
champagne. Thereafter, according to the wife, in the early
morning hours of January 1, 2017, the husband continued to
drink heavily and, despite the fact that she and the daughter
were sleeping nearby, the husband purposefully turned the
television volume extremely loud. The wife stated that after
she disabled the television by cutting the cable cord, the
husband broke the bedroom lock and attempted to physically
remove the wife from the bed by flipping the mattress and
ripping the sheets off. In addition, the wife stated that the
husband then, while still very intoxicated, proceeded to play
with their crying daughter despite the wife's pleas to
stop. Afraid for the safety of the daughter, the wife stated
that she eventually was able to pack a bag and leave the
apartment with the child around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.
Then,
the wife stated, when she and the daughter returned the
following morning, she and the husband got into a heated
verbal argument during which the husband threatened to send
the wife back to Russia and take away the daughter. The wife
took cellphone videos during the verbal argument that showed
the husband continually screaming at the wife in a
threatening manner. Fearing for her own safety as well as the
daughter's safety, the wife alleged, she called the
police.
On
January 5, 2017, the wife filed the Petition and a temporary
injunction was issued. A hearing was held, after proper
notice on February 16, 2017, where the wife testified as to
the allegations in the Petition. The wife described physical
abuse by the husband within the last three years, explaining
how she had previously called police because of alleged
physical violence. The wife further described the
husband's harassing behavior between December 31, 2016
...