L. H.-S. v. N. B.

Citations

• 341 Conn. 483

Syllabus

Pursuant to the statute (§ 46b-16a (a)) governing the issuance of certain civil protection orders, ''[a]ny person who has been the victim of . . . stalking may make an application'' for such an order, and the statute defines ''stalking'' as ''two or more wilful acts, performed in a threaten- ing, predatory or disturbing manner of . . . [h]arassing . . . or sending unwanted . . . messages to another person . . . that causes such per- son to reasonably fear for his or her physical safety.'' The plaintiff applied for a civil protection order against the defendant pursu- ant to § 46b-16a, claiming that she feared for her life. The plaintiff and the defendant had attended the same high school and were friends. The plaintiff was also friends with the defendant's sister, C. Due to certain events that occurred within the circle of friends of which the plaintiff and the defendant had been a part, the defendant indicated to the plaintiff that he did not want to socialize in public with her any longer. Thereafter, while the plaintiff and C, who was in her bedroom, were talking to each other via FaceTime, a video and audio conferencing platform, the defendant came into C's bedroom and joined the conversation. The plaintiff and C both teased the defendant that they were going to attend his upcoming volleyball game, and the defendant told the plaintiff that he did not want her to go to the game. The defendant then left C's bedroom and began sending text messages to the plaintiff, including, ''I'll shoot you,'' ''can't wait to kill your ass in school,'' among other threatening and derogatory comments. While the plaintiff was receiving these text messages, she continued to communicate with C via Fac- eTime, read the messages aloud to C, and laughed. The plaintiff responded to the text messages with a variety of comments teasing the defendant, as well as with emojis and acronyms that indicated laughter. Days after the foregoing incident, the plaintiff's mother discovered the text me