Smith v. Smith CA2/6

Filed 4/19/23 Smith v. Smith CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

DEREK L. SMITH, 2d Civil No. B321667 (Super. Ct. No. 56-2021- Plaintiff and Respondent, 00558286-CU-HR-VTA) (Ventura County) v.

DANYA SMITH,

Defendant and Appellant.

Danya Smith (Danya) appeals from an order granting Derek L. Smith’s (Derek)1 civil harassment restraining order against her. Danya contends the restraining order must be vacated because there was insufficient evidence that she willingly and knowingly harassed Derek. We affirm.

We refer to the parties by their first names to avoid 1

confusion. No disrespect is intended.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Danya and her now-deceased husband Steve2 lived next to Derek, his wife Kari, and his two young daughters. The parties had a dispute after Derek installed a privacy screen between their properties. After the dispute, Danya and Steve allegedly played loud music to harass Derek. In September 2021, Derek requested two separate civil harassment restraining orders, one against Danya and one against Steve, alleging they “intentionally blast[ed] unbearably loud music for hours at a time, day and night, on five very large speakers aimed at [Derek]’s property.” The trial court consolidated the two restraining order actions into one evidentiary hearing. Derek presented more than 300 video recordings documenting the music coming from the speakers at all times of day and night and photographs of the speakers pointed directly at Derek’s home. In one of the videos music blared from the speakers while no one was in Danya and Steve’s backyard listening to the music. In other videos music played from the speakers while no cars were in Danya and Steve’s driveway, indicating they were not home. One video showed Danya and Steve leaving the house while the music was still playing in their backyard. Other videos showed the music played loudly over several hours. Derek testified the loud music began after he installed the privacy screen between his home and Danya and Steve’s home. The music played whenever Derek and his family were at home and played “almost every single day.” Derek testified that when he confronted them, Steve responded that they were “going to do