ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.,None — Eyewitness News asked court officials why a judge refused to grant protection to a young woman before she was murdered by a stalker.
Alissa Blanton knew she was in danger (photos of Blanton). She asked a judge for a restraining order against the man who ultimately shot her outside her east Orange County office building Monday afternoon.
Brevard County Circuit Judge Dean Moxley won't talk about why he denied Blanton's request for an emergency restraining order (read injunction request). A court document shows the judge found no sufficient factual basis for it, even though he read about 70 pages of harassing emails, which really escalated in the last month before the shooting (email court district).
BILL SHEAFFER: On Judge's Decision READ: Victim's Injunction | Shooter's Emails VICTIM PHOTOS: Pics Of Alissa Blanton, Husband RAW INTERVIEW: Friend Talks To WFTV RAW AUDIO: 911 Calls From Crime Scene CONTACT COURT: Email District That Denied Victim AT THE SCENE: Aerial Images | Ground Pics
Troy had allegedly been showing up at the woman's home and work, harassing her through phone calls and emails and she had even called the police. One of the emails that Judge Moxley should have read before ruling against a temporary injunction to protect Blanton was sent from Roger Troy on January 29, 2010.
"I drove by your house to see if it was true. I can honestly tell you, and this is not because of the way you treated me, that is the ugliest nastiest color I have ever seen on a house, especially in fl," Troy wrote in the email (read more emails).
Murdersuicide-Blanton1 Murdersuicide-Blanton1 VICTIM PHOTOS Pics Of Alissa, Husband That email was sent after Blanton and her husband Brent found a rambling, harassing letter in their front yard from Troy.
"Just remember Brent, 'It's all about Alissa' in Alissa's world and no one else matters, believe me," Troy wrote to Brent in the letter, which was also repeatedly emailed to Blanton.
In another email, Troy became angered over her August marriage. "What in the hell is wrong with you?" he asked. "My payment for caring about a young woman and how she screwed up her life."
Judge Moxley would not talk to Eyewitness News, but the chief judge of the Brevard Circuit, J. Preston Silvernail, said Wednesday all of the harassing emails would not necessarily indicate stalking under the law.
"He was a regular customer of hers," said Jeannie Ellison, Blanton's friend and former co-worker at Hooters. "He just became more obsessed with her. It's just a horrible thing."
Florida Statute 784.048 defines stalking as willfully, maliciously and repeatedly following, harassing or cyberstalking another person and defines harassing as engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose.
"The evidence was there and, in retrospect, I am puzzled why he wouldn't have erred on the side of caution," WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said.
Sheaffer says usually judges err on the side of caution and issue the temporary restraining order.
Using this case as an example, Sheaffer says there would be no harm in temporarily forbidding Roger Troy from emailing and following Blanton, driving by her house or from driving by her father's house until the hearing, which was set for next week..
Brevard County Circuit Judge Dean Moxley was last elected into office in 2008 without opposition. He is up for reelection in 2014.
Last year in Brevard County, 743 people filed for protective injunctions. The clerk's office cannot say how many were granted or whether some of them got them instantly, as Blanton tried to do.
Harbor House Shelter for Battered Women says last year, in Orange County alone, 5,000 women sought injunctions and only a fourth of them were granted. Harbor House says almost every woman who was murdered in 2008 in Orange County had an injunction against her killer.
"The real question is, would a piece of paper really have stopped a mad man from doing what the mad man intended to do?" Sheaffer questioned.
Friends close to Blanton's family believe that Troy was set off by the notice that he had to appear in court next week. They believe the shooting happened the day after he was noticed.
Harbor House believes the orders setting hearings, like the one in this case, are unsafe because the accused know the courts are involved, but the alleged victims get no extra protection.
Previous Stories: February 10, 2010: 911 Calls Paint Chilling Picture Of Murder-Suicide February 9, 2010: IDs Confirmed After Suspected Stalker Kills Ex-Waitress February 9, 2010: SUV Taken Into Evidence In Murder-Suicide Investigation February 8, 2010: Two Dead In Shooting Outside AT&T Building Near UCF
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