So You CAN Follow Opposing Counsel by Drone
Drone law has the potential to be a real thing, but it wasn't supposed to happen like this.
According to reports, one attorney said an opposing counsel said he was following her by remote drones. Triple hearsay, we know.
In the court of public opinion that might fly. But, when she sued him for stalking in a court of law, her case didn't really get off the ground.
Stalking by Drone
Brandy Raulerson, a Miami attorney, sued Jose Font for harassment and "crude sexual advances." It started in a deposition.
In her complaint, Raulerson claimed Font wanted a sexual relationship with her. She resisted, and Font told her he was following her by drone.
He then allegedly tried to get her fired, have her law license revoked, and subpoenaed her in unrelated cases. Her stalking case made it to Florida's Third District Court of Appeal, but it crashed and burned.
In Raulerson v. Font, the appeals court said the allegations didn't fit the state's stalking statute. Among other shortcomings in the case, there was no evidence that the defendant actually deployed drones.
Disciplinary Rules
The appeals court said "over ninety percent" of the alleged conduct related to unprofessional conduct. That is the province of disciplinary authorities.
However, the appellate panel was sympathetic to Raulerson. In affirming the trial court's ruling to dismiss, the panel repeated the trial court's observations.
"I find that if those things were said to you, then you were the victim of bullying at the very least," the trial judge said. "We are all supposed to be adults."
Not to mention, we have to be careful with drones. And guns; Raulerson bought one for her protection.
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