Court Opinion

ID: 9543491
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:45:56.04378+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:10:25.943560
License: Public Domain

WIEAND, Judge
concurring:
Although I concur in the result, I write separately because I am in disagreement with at least two aspects of the majority’s analysis. First, I believe it is erroneous to hold, as the majority does, that a petitioner for relief under the Protection From Abuse Act, 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 6101 et seq., is not required to plead with reasonable specificity those instances of abuse on which he or she relies to establish entitlement to relief under *512the Act. Secondly, I disagree with the majority’s suggestion that the preferred relief under the Act is removal of a spouse from the marital home.
“The Protection From Abuse Act is a vanguard measure dealing with the problems of wife and child abuse. It is designed to protect against abuse ... between family or household members who reside together____” Cipolla v. Cipolla, 264 Pa.Super. 53, 55 n. 1, 398 A.2d 1053, 1054 n. 1 (1979). See also: Heard v. Heard, 418 Pa.Super. 250, 257, 614 A.2d 255, 259 (1992). To commence proceedings under the Act, a petition “alleging abuse by the defendant” must be filed with the court. 23 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a). See also: Heard v. Heard, supra at 257, 614 A.2d at 259. Within ten days of the filing of a petition, a hearing is to be held at which the petitioner “must prove the allegation of abuse by a preponderance of the evidence.” 23 Pa.C.S. § 6107(a). See also: Heard v. Heard, supra at 256, 614 A.2d at 259.
I agree with appellant-husband that a defendant in a protection from abuse proceeding should not be required to defend against matters of which he has had no notice. Notice is fundamental to our system of jurisprudence, and the need therefor is recognized in both civil and criminal areas of the law. See: Commonwealth v. Kelly, 487 Pa. 174, 178, 409 A.2d 21, 23 (1979); Freer v. Parker, 411 Pa. 346, 347, 192 A.2d 348, 349 (1963); Ingrassia Constr. Co. v. Walsh, 337 Pa.Super. 58, 64, 486 A.2d 478, 481 (1984); Commonwealth v. Speller, 311 Pa.Super. 569, 579, 458 A.2d 198, 203 (1983). Our abhorrence of a variance between allegata and probata rests upon principles of fairness; we do not countenance undue surprise by allowing evidence of facts not pleaded. See: Commonwealth v. Kelly, supra, 487 Pa. at 178, 409 A.2d at 23; Freer v. Parker, supra, 411 Pa. at 347, 192 A.2d at 349.
This principle is equally important in matters covered by the Protection From Abuse Act. A defendant in such proceedings can be unfairly surprised by evidence offered at an abuse hearing where the subject thereof has not been alleged in the petition. Trial by surprise is unfair to the respondent who has been surprised and also to the court which may be *513deprived of significant evidence in response. In such cases, the ability of the court to reach a just result is unnecessarily impaired. Therefore, I would hold that a protection from abuse petition must allege, with reasonable specificity, the particular incidents of abuse upon which the petitioner relies for relief.1
This requirement will not hamper the purposes of the Protection From Abuse Act. It will not place an impractical burden on the petitioner. What is difficult or burdensome, one may ask, about informing the defendant of the facts upon which the petitioner relies in proving entitlement to relief? This is the same requirement which we place on all plaintiffs in civil matters and the Commonwealth in criminal matters.
I also am unable to comprehend how the expeditious grant of relief under the Act will be diminished by such a requirement. The Act itself provides for the issuance of immediate, temporary orders for the protection of a petitioner. See: 23 Pa.C.S. § 6107(b). Requiring specificity in the petition will not abrogate or compromise that provision. In my best judgment, therefore, there simply is no good reason for not requiring of a petitioner a pleading adequate to inform the respondent of the allegations he or she will face at a hearing before such respondent can be compelled to move out of his or her own home. See: 23 Pa.C.S. § 6108(a)(2) & (3).
Instantly, the petition alleged an abusive incident on September 9, 1992. Therefore, only evidence impinging on the alleged September 9th incident should have been presented at hearing. Evidence of prior incidents should not have been allowed. In this case, however, the error was harmless. The prior incidents, in my judgment, were insignificant and involved nothing more than shouting matches not involving physical abuse. Although there clearly were prior arguments, the incidents did not involve physical abuse sufficient to *514require removal of a spouse from the common residence. Because the evidence was heard by a court without a jury, the additional evidence was not such as to destroy or impair the fact-finder’s ability to hear and decide the case impartially regarding the incident alleged in the petition.
“It is up to the trial court as fact finder, to judge the credibility of witnesses and to weigh their testimony. On appeal, it is not the duty of [the appellate] court to find facts, but to determine if there is evidence in the record to support the trial court’s findings. Findings of fact made by the trial court and supported in the record may not be overturned absent an abuse of discretion.” Heard v. Heard, supra, 418 Pa.Super. at 258-259, 614 A.2d at 260 (citations omitted). Here, the trial court found that appellee had been physically abused by appellant on September 9, 1992, and appellee’s evidence supports the court’s finding that the dispute between the parties became physical.
If I had been the hearing judge, I may not have found it necessary to evict appellant from his own home in order to protect appellee from future abuse. Appellant does not appear from the record to be a violent person, and any physical abuse inflicted upon his spouse appears to have occurred as a consequence of marital discord for which appellee is not completely blameless. I disagree vigorously with the majority’s suggestion that the preferred relief under the statute is to require a spouse to vacate his or her own home. The statute expresses no such preference, and for the courts to do so is to exceed the purpose of the statute to prevent physical abuse. Certainly not every incident of marital discord recommends that a court determine who shall go and who shall stay in the marital home.
I agree, nevertheless, that the trial court’s order in the instant case must be affirmed. Because the Act empowers trial courts to grant broad relief to protect against anticipated abuse, much must be left to the discretion of the trial court. It follows that an appellate court may not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court and will not disturb the trial court’s order unless there has been an abuse of discre*515tion. Here, even though I may have granted different relief, I cannot say that the trial court’s order was an abuse of discretion. Therefore, I concur in the decision to affirm the court’s order.

. An exception may be required where, because of the fluidity of the circumstances, relevant events have occurred after the filing of the petition and before the hearing. Even in such cases, however, fairness to all parties can best be achieved by liberally allowing amendments to the petition. In the instant case, the additional incidents had occurred prior to the filing of the petition.