## Facts

- Sara Yount Pettingill petitioned for protective relief against her husband, Jeffrey Pettingill, alleging violent, threatening, and controlling conduct after their separation and during divorce proceedings.
- She alleged Jeffrey’s behavior caused her to fear for her safety and for the wellbeing of their minor child.
- She described an incident in which Jeffrey, angry, abused the family pet in front of their child.
- She described controlling conduct, including installing surveillance cameras inside the home, restricting her access to bank accounts, accessing her private email and social media, and breaking her cell phone.
- She asserted Jeffrey was mentally unstable and claimed he kept a firearm in the home despite being a convicted felon, threatened to kill an ex-wife, and claimed to be an ex-CIA agent.
- The family court issued an emergency protective order the same day the petition was filed.
- After an evidentiary hearing, the family court entered a domestic violence order, finding by a preponderance of the evidence that domestic violence or abuse had occurred and may occur again.
- The court also made a docket notation that Jeffrey presented “9 out of 12 top lethality factors in intimate partner violence.”

## Issues

1. Whether minimal written findings on a standard form, supplemented by a brief docket note, deprived Jeffrey of meaningful appellate review.
2. Whether the family court improperly substituted “lethality factors” for the statutory standard governing domestic violence orders under KRS 403.720 and KRS 403.750(1).

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Kentucky affirmed the Court of Appeals and the family court’s entry of the domestic violence order.
- The court held the record, including the form order, docket notation, and hearing transcript, was sufficient to permit meaningful appellate review.
- The court held the family court applied the correct statutory standard and did not treat “lethality factors” as an alternative legal test or as facts proving domestic violence without evidence.

## Legal Principles

- A domestic violence order requires a finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that an act or acts of domestic violence and abuse occurred and may occur again. (KRS 403.720; KRS 403.750(1))
- Limited written findings on a standardized domestic violence form can be adequate for appellate review when the transcript and record disclose the factual basis for the ruling.
- A trial court may reference risk-assessment considerations (including “lethality factors”) as an explanatory framework, so long as the statutory elements control and the ruling rests on evidence presented.
- Appellate courts defer to the family court’s credibility determinations and will not disturb factual findings supported by substantial evidence.

## Conclusion

The Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the domestic violence order, concluding that the existing record allowed full appellate review and that the family court’s reference to “lethality factors” functioned as a risk-assessment aid rather than a replacement for the statutory requirements for finding domestic violence and the likelihood of recurrence.


Pettingill v. Pettingill, 480 S.W.3d 920 (Ky. 2015)