His thin excuse? "I did it for love". Though the phrase is billed in thousands of songs, romance novels and movies the world over as THE magical formula for winning her heart, as we shall see--in reality, it is typically nothing more than a bad case of wishful thinking--especially when there is a court-issued no-stalking order standing between you and your dearly beloved.
Case in point: Ivanka Trump, hard boiled but gorgeous business executive and daughter of multi-billionaire Donald Trump versus lovesick, veteran stalker John Eugene Enabnit, average Joe. And as Mr. Enabnit swiftly learned within moments of attempting to approach Ms. Trump at a Doral Resort PGA golf tournament, butting heads with an old-school, curmudgeon of a New York trial court judge and a connected, powerful multi-billionaire daddy's-girl is hardly a fair fight. Lesson learned? Considering that Mr. Enabnit was on notice of all of those facts in advance - we doubt it.
We doubt it because having handled scores of Southfield criminal stalking cases we know that the line between love and obsession can be thin, indeed. And our criminal defense attorneys have learned that, once that line is crossed, few measures short of a jail sentence or a commitment to a mental hospital will serve as a deterrent.
In fact, Enabnit was a frequent flyer, in that he had previously harassed Ms. Trump at a marketing event in New York City. That incident earned him his first court issued restraining order, barring him from approaching the lady. Intervening Florida police and detectives were somewhat flummoxed, therefore, when Enabnit freely admitted that he was attempting to contact his quarry at the Doral, Florida event.
Turning to the Michigan perspective on this crime, the law protects the 'objects of desire' (a/k/a victims) in several ways. First, Michigan's anti-pursuit law prohibits both harassment and stalking. The law defines 'harassment' as non-consensual conduct or contact that would cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress. The test is whether most people would be upset by the conduct.
Stalking includes both on-line and off-line, unwanted, offensive pursuit, such as: (i) Following or appearing within the sight of the stalker's target; (ii) Approaching or confronting that individual in a public place or on private property; (iii) Appearing at the individual's workplace or residence; (iv) Entering onto or remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the individual; (v) Contacting the individual by telephone; (vi) Sending mail or electronic communications to the individual, and/or; (vii) Placing an object on, or delivering an object to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the individual.
Southfield criminal attorneys commonly focus on the emotional distress element of the offense in defending a person charged with this crime, primarily because such assertions are so debatable. Where the claim of emotional distress is based solely on the victim's bare assertion and lacks any supportive, third-party expert testimony, the claim can be difficult to prove, especially if the victim admits that she harbors intense anger toward the alleged stalker. That is because, under current Michigan legal authority, witness hostility may be considered as witness incredibility, in that it may suggest that there is an axe to grind.
Moreover, prior such convictions up the ante, and can land the convicted stalker in prison for up to 5 years.
All of which should leave us wondering: Was it really love? Or was it just obsession? Well, here are some helpful hints that we've compiled over the years that you might want to run through before surprising your beloved at her place of work, home or PGA golf tournament. If you've never met her in person or even conversed with her, and you're just an average Joe, and you're under a restraining order barring contact, and she's a gorgeous, young multi-billionaire, there's a pretty good chance that it's not love, Joe. Let it go.
The Miami Herald Nespaper 03/22/13 - Man accused of harassing Donald Trump's
daughter arrested in Doral
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
