R.D.
R.D. v. P.M.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Chaney, J.
Therapist R.D. believed she was being stalked and harassed by P.M., a former patient. 1 On June 1, 2009, R.D. obtained a one-year civil harassment restraining order under Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6. The order restrained P.M. from harassing or contacting R.D. or her family, and prohibited P.M. from coming within 100 yards of R.D., her office, her family members, or her children’s schools.
After the restraining order’s one-year term expired at the end of May 2010, however, P.M.’s harassment resumed—or so R.D. believed. She was confronted by P.M. at her local market in a manner she considered threatening; she found dozens of consumer-review Web sites posted with RM.’s messages attacking her personal and professional conduct; flyers with disparaging messages were posted and reposted by P.M. at the entrance to her office building, on nearby cars, and in front of her son’s elementary school; and she learned that P.M. had begun undertaking volunteer activities at her children’s elementary and middle schools.
Taking these events to indicate that P.M. had resumed her harassment, R.D. sought a renewal of the civil harassment restraining order. The court granted the…