Amanda Helen Taylor v. Todd Emory Taylor, 39380-1

Amanda Taylor filed for a domestic violence protection order against her ex-husband, Todd Taylor, following the dissolution of their marriage.
Amanda alleged Todd engaged in coercive control, verbal and emotional abuse, financial exploitation, and occasional threats or physical aggression, impacting both herself and their two children.
Todd denied the allegations, asserting no ongoing danger and pointing to limited contact since the divorce, as well as a lack of findings or restraining orders in earlier proceedings.
The trial court denied the protection order, citing lack of corroborating, extrinsic evidence beyond the parties' conflicting declarations and communications.
Amanda appealed, challenging the court’s credibility assessment, its interpretation of the legal standard for coercive control, and the refusal to review case law she offered.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Credibility Findings	Court wrongly credited Todd, ignored evidence of a pattern of coercive control	Disputes all allegations, highlights lack of corroborating evidence	Deference to trial court’s credibility findings; no error
Legal Standard for Coercive Control	Court required undue objective evidence, not just patterns and impact	Court followed correct standard; no new facts or proven harm	Court applied correct preponderance standard
Consideration of Plaintiff’s Case Law	Court erred in refusing to review and cite helpful case law	No requirement to accept or cite proffered cases at hearing	No error; court not required to accept or cite parties' cases
Use of Prior Proceedings	Court erred by considering lack of earlier protection orders as negative	Proper to consider entire procedural history without prior findings	Trial court could properly consider lack of earlier findings

In re Knight, 178 Wn. App. 929 (2014) (appellate courts defer to trial courts on factual and credibility determinations)
State v. Nguyen, 10 Wn. App. 2d 797 (2019) (concerns sufficiency of evidence for felony stalking; not dispositive here)
State v. Abdi-Issa, 199 Wn.2d 163 (2022) (addressed animal cruelty as a form of domestic violence)
State v. Becklin, 163 Wn.2d 519 (2008) (statutory interpretation of stalking statute)