Gerald Buchheit is stuck. A Florida appeals court ruled on November 6 that he must stay away from his estranged wife, Cara Siciliano, despite video evidence showing he walked out of her condo calmly after a brief exchange. The Sixth District Court of Appeal rejected his argument that the December 2024 incident was benign. Instead, the judges pointed to a pattern of violence stretching back to 2016. It’s a rare legal outcome where a single, non-violent snapshot loses to a decade of alleged brutality.
The trigger was a Ferrari. Buchheit, living in Buffalo, New York, showed up at Siciliano’s Fort Myers condo in December 2024 without warning. He claimed he wanted his mail and gifts bought in Italy. He also wanted to know where his car was. It wasn’t in the garage. Siciliano, home with her 17-year-old daughter, called police. She told the court he kicked open her bedroom door, shouted, and recorded her while demanding the car’s location. Buchheit denies this. He says he was polite. He says he recorded the 62-second clip to protect himself from false accusations.
The video is damning for Buchheit’s defense, yet oddly supportive of the order. It shows him standing outside a closed door. He asks, "Where's the Ferrari?" His daughter-in-law snaps back, "And why are you here?" He replies, "I bought this house. That's why I'm here." He walks toward the bedroom. Siciliano, in a bathrobe, shuts the door in his face. He tries to open it. She slams it again. He walks out. No shouting. No chasing. The court admitted this clip didn’t prove violence. But it didn’t erase history.
That history is where the case was won. Siciliano testified to three specific assaults Buchheit didn’t successfully object to. In June 2016, he allegedly shattered a wine glass, cutting her leg. In March 2020, he choked her while drunk and smashed her phone. In February 2022, she said he punched her in the back at Mar-a-Lago. Buchheit disputed all three. He claimed the glass fell accidentally. He said the 2020 bruises were from trying to stop her from hitting him. He denied the Mar-a-Lago punch entirely. The trial court believed Siciliano. The appeals court agreed. Under Florida law, a pattern of abuse justifies a final injunction, even if the latest incident appears calm on camera.
Siciliano explained why she waited so long to file. Buchheit moves constantly between residences. He had already filed for divorce. She feared retaliation. She also noted his behavior worsened after a plane crash in early 2024, when he started drinking more frequently. All the assaults, she said, happened when he was drinking. The court noted one incident from January 2023—where he allegedly slammed her into a door after her breast cancer surgery—was excluded from the final ruling because Buchheit wasn’t given proper notice of that specific claim in the initial petition. But the other three stood. The protection order remains in effect. Buchheit can appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, but for now, the ban holds. The Ferrari remains in the garage. Buchheit remains in New York. The legal battle, however, isn't over.