Joseph Greer v. Ashley M. Clark, 2020 CA 001585

Parties: Ashley Clark (petitioner/appellee) and Joseph Greer (respondent/appellant) share two sons and are unmarried.
On Nov. 9, 2020, after a visitation pickup at Greer’s home an argument erupted; both admit to using vulgar language.
Clark testified Greer pushed her multiple times (once felt like a punch to the chest), took a knife and attempted to damage their shared car’s tires, and repeatedly pounded on the driver’s side window as she fled with the children.
Greer denied any physical contact or attempt to damage the car. A nonparty reported Clark described being bumped and the tire incident.
Clark did not call police, seek medical treatment, or photograph injuries; she obtained an Emergency Protective Order that night and the circuit court entered a DVO on Dec. 7, 2020.
Greer appealed, arguing insufficient evidence that domestic violence occurred and that it may recur.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Clark)	Defendant's Argument (Greer)	Held
Whether sufficient evidence shows domestic violence occurred on Nov. 9, 2020	Clark testified to repeated pushes, attempted tire damage with a knife, and pounding on the car window causing fear	Denies any physical contact or car damage attempt; points to lack of corroboration (no police, photos, medical)	Court upheld DVO; trial court may credit Clark’s testimony and found it met preponderance standard
Whether domestic violence may occur again (predictive finding)	Prior physical incidents, a 2014 DVO against Greer, ongoing conflict, and shared children create a risk of recurrence	Argues current record insufficient to predict future violence given lack of corroboration	Court found history and totality of circumstances supported reasonable prediction that violence may recur; affirmed

Guenther v. Guenther, 379 S.W.3d 796 (Ky. Ct. App. 2012) (statutory requirement of both occurrence and likelihood findings)
Hall v. Smith, 599 S.W.3d 451 (Ky. Ct. App. 2020) (preponderance means more likely than not)
Pettingill v. Pettingill, 480 S.W.3d 920 (Ky. 2015) (predictive standard requires totality-of-circumstances analysis)
Boone v. Boone, 501 S.W.3d 434 (Ky. Ct. App. 2016) (liberal construction of protective-order statutes; standard of review)
Caudill v. Caudill, 318 S.W.3d 112 (Ky. Ct. App. 2010) (mere unwanted touching may be insufficient for domestic violence)
Bailey v. Bailey, 231 S.W.3d 793 (Ky. Ct. App. 2007) (family court has broad discretion to accept or reject testimony)
Hunter v. Mena, 302 S.W.3d 93 (Ky. Ct. App. 2010) (credibility determinations are for the trial court)