Under Conn.Gen. Stat. sec. 46-15, any family or household member who has been subjected to a continuous threat of present physical pain or physical injury, stalking or a pattern of threatening by another family or household member may make an application to the Superior Court for a restraining order.
Starting Oct. 1, 2021, "coercive control" shall be included in the definition of domestic violence. Coercive control entails power and control over the victim through actions such as isolation, humiliation, intimidation and domination.
Family or household member who can apply for a restraining order includes, regardless of age, spouses or former spouses, parents or their children, persons related by blood or marriage, persons presently residing together or have lived together at any time, persons who have a child in common regardless of whether they are or have been married or have lived together at any time, and persons who are in or have recently been in a dating relationship.
If the victim of abuse or applicant alleges in the application for a restraining order, that an immediate and present physical danger exists to the applicant, a Judge can grant an ex parte (without a hearing) restraining order. The Judge can also extend the restraining order to any minor child of the applicant and award the applicant custody of said child.
A hearing is held within 14 days to see if the restraining order can be continued for 1 year. Even if a Judge does not grant an ex parte order, an applicant can still have a hearing within 14 days.
However, if the applicant states that the respondent holds a permit to carry a pistol or revolver, an eligibility certificate for a pistol or revolver, a long gun eligibility certificate or an ammunition certificate or possesses one or more firearms or ammunition, and the Judge orders an ex parte order, the Judge shall order that a hearing be held not later than 7 days from when the ex parte order is issued.
At that hearing, the applicant must prove that he/she has been subjected to a "continuous threat" of present physical pain or physical injury, stalking or a pattern of threatening or coercive control by another person.
The Appellate Court has determined that one incident combined with a finding that the respondent presently poses a continuous threat, is sufficient to warrant the granting of a restraining order. (see, Rosemarie B.-F. v. Curtis P., 133 Conn. App. 472, 38 A. 3d 138 (2012).
The applicant can also request that financial orders be entered with the restraining order by filling out a Supplemental Affidavit and Request for Orders of Maintenance. This Request is applicable only in those cases where the parties are married or if the parties live together and have a dependent child or children in common.
In addition to applying for a restraining order, a victim of domestic violence can also file a criminal complaint with the police dept.
