In Florida, domestic violence is defined by statute as "any assault, battery, sexual assault, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another who is or was residing in the same single dwelling unit."
The definition is further expanded to include people who do not reside together but have a child or children in common.
Note, as well, how the statute says "by another who is or was residing in the same single dwelling unit." That means that a domestic violence incident can occur between two people no longer in a relationship who once lived together.
Domestic violence charges are treated differently than your non-domestic crimes. That's because the State of Florida has an interest in protecting victims of domestic violence.
Domestic crimes can exist at the
misdemeanor or felony level.
At the misdemeanor level, the most common domestic violence charges include:
battery, assault,
criminal mischief, and violation of injunction.
Domestic violence charges cannot be sealed from your criminal record. Unless the charges are dismissed (in which case they may be
expunged), you cannot have a domestic violence charge sealed if you have received a
withhold of adjudication.
It's unfair because under normal circumstances, many misdemeanor charges such as battery, criminal mischief, and assault can be sealed. If they are domestic charges, however, they cannot.
Fighting domestic violence charges is so important because of the possible consequences. In Miami-Dade and Broward, the respective State Attorneys' Offices rely on specialized prosecutors to handle domestic violence cases.
Furthermore, conditions of probation, and even conditions of
Pretrial Intervention/Diversion are far more extensive than those associated with non-domestic crimes.
Also, if you and the alleged victim have children together, a domestic violence charge can lead to your children being taken out of the home by DCF.
Many domestic charges stem from allegations made by one spouse/family member against another. Many times, the police do nothing more than take statements and make an arrest. In terms of actual eyewitnesses, it is usually the alleged victim's word against the accused's.
A good
criminal defense attorney begins fighting domestic charges the moment he or she is retained. Waiting until charges are formally filed may be too late. The first 21 days of a prosecution are important. During that time, prosecutors may be made aware of conflicts in the alleged victim's story, possible motives for the alleged victim to lie about the incident, or criminal conduct of the alleged victim that may have occurred during the incident.
An investigation into the facts must be done so that a client can be well-represented. While I cannot talk about specific case results, let's just say that this strategy has proven successful. If you want specific case results, just shoot me an email and I'll be happy to tell you about them.
If you or someone you know are facing domestic violence charges, either felony or misdemeanor,
call me.