Boblitt v. Boblitt

In 2004 Linda Boblitt (plaintiff) filed for divorce in family court from Steven Boblitt (defendant). Linda sought spousal support on the ground that Steven’s emotional, physical, and sexual abuse had affected her ability to secure employment. In 2007 Linda filed a domestic-violence tort action in a trial court against Steven. In 2008 the family court considered the spousal-support request. The judge noted that Steven’s behavior toward Linda was intimidating and awarded Linda $2,000 per month for a total of eight months. The judge stated that he found some of Linda’s domestic-violence allegations unbelievable but failed to explain whether he had concluded that domestic violence had occurred. Linda moved for a new trial, which was denied. Linda then appealed the decision. While the appeal was pending, Steven filed a motion with the trial court for a judgment on the tort pleadings on the ground that Linda was barred from litigating domestic-violence claims. The trial court found that Linda had or could have raised all her domestic-violence allegations during the marriage-dissolution proceeding and was precluded from raising domestic-violence claims in a separate action. The trial court granted Steven’s motion. Linda appealed. On appeal, Steven argued that Linda had waived her argument that she was not barred from filing a domestic-violence tort action because she failed to cite any legal precedent.