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Sinclair v. Daly

No evidence showed that the defendant engaged in a pattern of intimidating and harassing behavior that placed the petitioner in reasonable fear for his safety.

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Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court issued a stalking protective order enjoining David L. Sinclair from contacting or harassing Joseph E. Daly. Sinclair appeals, and we reverse because there was no evidence that Sinclair’s behavior placed Daly in reasonable fear for his safety. Evidence adduced at the May 1, 2008 hearing on Daly’s motion for a stalking protective order showed that Daly had served as the priest of Saint Andrews Episcopal Church for the previous five years. Sinclair was a longstanding member of the church and served as the organist. During the course of their relationship, Sinclair disclosed to Daly that he was struggling with the consumption of alcohol, that he was selectively taking medications related to a mental health condition, and that he was suicidal.

The relationship between Daly and Sinclair began to sour following the construction and installation of a new pulpit. Afterwards, according to a member of the church’s vestry, Daly “could do no right in Sinclair’s eyes.” Sinclair told Daly that the priest was concerned only for himself and not the parish and that Daly was “jealous of the organ.” Sinclair made a series of late-night telephone calls during which, according to Daly, he would “go on.” The telephone calls stopped after another parishioner told Sinclair that “he was being a pest,” but Sinclair’s behavior “flared up again,” according to Daly, when he came into Daly’s office, interrupting a meeting, to insist that the church order a series of choir books. Two days later, Sinclair sent an e-mail to members of the parish, listing those services at which he would continue to play and those at which he would no longer play.

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