Stalking

You asked about how to prove that you are being stalked. I’m not sure if you want to be able to prove it for purposes of getting the person arrested or to get a civil restraining order against the person so I will address both topics.

For an arrest, the general standard of proof is that the police must have “probable cause” to believe that the crime was committed in order to arrest someone or to get an arrest warrant issued. However, there is typically a harder standard of proof at trial in order for a person to get convicted of a crime. In that case, the stalking would need to be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.” You can read the definitions of the stalking crimes in STATE on our website [HYPERLINK TO THE STATUTE ITSELF, IF MORE THAN ONE DEGREE, DELINEATE EACH AND LINK SEPARATELY].

In civil court, which is the court where someone would file for a restraining order or where someone would file a civil lawsuit for money damages, there is a lower standard of proof. Usually, the standard is that the petitioner (victim) has to prove that the stalking occurred by a “preponderance of the evidence,” which is often thought of as the judge must believe the petitioner more than the respondent. We have information on getting a stalking protective order in STATE on our website [HYPERLINK IF THERE IS A SPECIFIC STALKING/HARASSMENT ORDER. IF NOT, SEE IF THE DV ORDER HAS STALKING AND THEN EXPLAIN IT’S ONLY PART OF THE DV ORDER]. And here is the information we have on domestic violence protective orders HYPERLINK for victims of domestic violence in case you want to look at both to see which may apply to your situation. [ONLY INCLUDE THE DV ORDER IF YOU THINK THE RELATIONSHIP COULD QUALIFY]

In general, when someone is being stalked or harassed, it may be beneficial to maintain and keep track of anything that could serve as potential evidence of stalking, such as text messages, emails, as well as taking screenshots of any posts made on social media to preserve them in case the person who posts them later deletes them. It also may be beneficial to keep a general log of any incidents that may occur. They can make a list of the date and time of each incident, what the abuser did or said, what actions if any the victim took, what witnesses or evidence s/he has, etc. This way, if the victim has to prove the pattern of events in court, s/he will have the information ready to give to the police or judge. You can see safety tips for stalking or harassment victims and a sample stalking/harassment log on our website.

In order to get legal advice, it may be helpful to reach out to a lawyer for advice. You can fine contact information for lawyer referral services and free or low cost lawyers in STATE on our website. HYPERLINK