Tina Ayala v. Carlos Ayala

May 27, 2008

OUTCOME: Successful appeal

Anthony Bushnell, Esq. and The Bushnell Law Firm, LLC successfully represented the Appellant from start to finish before the Minnesota Court of Appeals in a case that resulted in a published opinion an ... d was selected as one of the significant decisions of 2008. The decision was issued on May 27, 2008 in Tina Ayala v. Carlos Ayala, 749 N.W.2d 817 (Minn. App. 2008) (Appellate Court File No. A07-657). The case involved a civil order for protection taken out against the Appellant for which no attempts to personally serve the Appellant were ever made. Instead, the Respondent filed for an order for notice by publication. The Court of Appeals overturned the order and vacated it, holding that the Appellant did not receive notice of the case against him and the order for protection should not have been confirmed by the district court without Appellant getting notice. Mr. Bushnell said: "I fully support the civil order for protection system and I believe it is a good system that provides important protection for victims of domestic abuse. Unfortunately, even a good system can be abused, and the best way to ensure that the system continues to achieve its purpose is to protect it against efforts to use it improperly. It is a fundamental principle of our state and federal constitutions that a person against whom an action is commenced has a right to notice of the action, in order that he or she may have an opportunity to be heard and to put before the court facts that may rebut those offered by the party initiating the action."