Michaels

Defendant and appellant Peggy Ann Turk appeals from a domestic violence restraining order issued against her under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (Fam. Code, § 6200 et seq.) by a commissioner of the Riverside County Superior Court. The order prohibits appellant from posting negative and harassing communications online about her ex-boyfriend, plaintiff and respondent Peter Daniel Michaels. Appellant argues that the order is void because as a self-represented party, she did not consent to having a commissioner hear the matter. We agree.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff and defendant lived with each other from 2001 to 2006 and have one child together, a son born in 2002. For nearly a decade, they have been litigating over child custody, child support, and various restraining orders. Except for the restraining order at issue here, all of the litigation has taken place in Orange County.

In 2006, the parties stipulated to joint legal custody over their son. In 2008, the court issued mutual restraining orders prohibiting the parties from contacting each other for five years, and defendant and plaintiff’s wife entered into a no-contact civil harassment…