Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

September 30, 2026

When a Phone Call Becomes a Felony: Witness Tampering Charges in Florida Domestic Violence Cases

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense often involves a second fight that starts after the arrest. A person charged with domestic battery goes home, or calls from the Broward County jail, and reaches out to the alleged victim. Sometimes the goal is to apologize. Sometimes it is to ask the partner to drop the charges. That contact can produce new charges that carry more prison time than the original case. Florida’s witness tampering statute, section 914.22, is the most serious of them.

The Alleged Victim Cannot Drop the Charges

Many people accused of domestic violence believe the case ends if the partner changes the story or refuses to cooperate. It does not. The Broward State Attorney’s Office decides whether to prosecute, not the alleged victim. Prosecutors can and do move forward with 911 recordings, body camera footage, photographs, and officer testimony.

That misunderstanding drives a lot of tampering cases. An accused person who thinks the partner controls the outcome has every reason to try to change the partner’s mind. The law treats many of those efforts as crimes.

What Section 914.22 Prohibits

Section 914.22(1) makes it a crime to knowingly use intimidation or physical force, to threaten another person, to engage in misleading conduct toward another person, or to offer another person money or other financial benefit. An attempt to do any of these counts too. The conduct must be aimed at causing a person to do one of six things: withhold testimony or evidence, destroy or conceal evidence, evade a subpoena, skip a court proceeding they have been summoned to, keep information from police or a judge, or testify falsely.

Two details matter in domestic cases. First, the statute reaches “any person,” not just the alleged victim. Pressure on the partner’s mother, a roommate, or a neighbor who called 911 can support a charge. So can asking a friend to deliver a message. Second, under section 914.22(5), no court case needs to be pending at the time of the contact. A message sent the night of the arrest, before the State files anything, qualifies.

The financial benefit clause catches conduct many people never think of as tampering. An offer to keep paying rent, cover a car payment, or send money for the children if the partner stays home from court can support the charge.

The Penalty Rises With the Original Case

Section 914.22(2) ties the tampering penalty to the seriousness of the case being tampered with, and it always sits one level higher. Tampering in a misdemeanor case is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Tampering in a third-degree felony case, such as aggravated assault, is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years. Tampering in a second-degree felony case, such as aggravated battery, is a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years.

A first-offense domestic battery carries up to one year in jail. A single call asking the partner to lie about that battery can carry five years in prison.

Section 914.22(3) creates a lesser but related crime: harassing a witness, victim, or informant. It applies to a person who intentionally harasses someone and thereby hinders, delays, prevents, or dissuades that person from testifying, reporting to police, seeking an arrest, or assisting a prosecution. Harassment in a misdemeanor case is a first-degree misdemeanor. In a third-degree felony case, it is a third-degree felony.

The No-Contact Order Creates Its Own Charge

Tampering is not the only risk. In most Broward County domestic cases, the judge at first appearance orders the accused to have no contact with the alleged victim as a condition of release. Section 903.047 authorizes that condition. Under section 741.29(6), willfully violating a release condition in a domestic case is a first-degree misdemeanor. The statute also requires that the person be held in custody until first appearance. Continue reading

September 25, 2026

When Police Walk In Without a Warrant: Suppressing Evidence in Fort Lauderdale Domestic Violence Cases

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense often begins at the front door, with a simple question: Did officers have the legal right to come inside? Domestic violence calls bring police to private homes perhaps more than almost any other kind of call. Officers arrive fast, often at night, sometimes to a scene that has already calmed down. The Fourth Amendment (federal and state) protects the right of the people to be secure in their homes from unreasonable intrusion. “Unreasonable” usually means they either need When the law did not allow that entry, the evidence they found and the statements they took can be thrown out of court.

The Home Gets the Strongest Protection

The Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 12 of the Florida Constitution protect people against unreasonable searches and seizures. Florida courts treat a warrantless search of a home as unreasonable on its face unless the State proves a recognized exception. The burden sits with the State, not with the accused.

The U.S. Supreme Court drew a firm line at the threshold in Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980). Without a warrant, consent, or an emergency, officers may not cross it to make a routine arrest.

That rule matters in domestic cases because Florida gives officers broad arrest power. Section 901.15(7) allows a warrantless arrest when an officer has probable cause to believe a person committed an act of domestic violence. Arrest power, however, does not automatically equal the power to enter into your home. An officer may have probable cause to arrest and still have no right to walk into the house to make that arrest.

A Domestic Violence Call Is Not a Warrant

There is no domestic violence exception to the warrant requirement exists. However, it is possible that, given the nature of these calls, officers may claim there was some type of emergency that necessitated their entry. In order for this exception to apply, officers need a specific legal basis. The three most common grounds for warrantless entry into a home in domestic cases are (1) emergency aid, (2) consent, and (3) hot pursuit.

The Emergency Aid Exception After Case v. Montana

Most warrantless entries in domestic cases rest on the emergency aid exception. The rule comes from Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398 (2006). In that U.S. Supreme Court case, officers watched through a window as a fight broke out inside a home and a person was struck in the face hard enough to draw blood. The Court held officers may enter without a warrant when they have an objectively reasonable basis to believe someone inside is seriously injured or about to be.

The Supreme Court revisited that standard earlier this year. In Case v. Montana, decided unanimously on January 14, 2026, officers entered a man’s home after his ex-girlfriend called 911 and reported he was threatening suicide. The defense argued that officers needed probable cause of an emergency. The Court rejected that argument and reaffirmed the Brigham City standard: an objectively reasonable basis to believe an occupant is seriously injured or imminently threatened with serious harm. The Court also criticized the looser test the Montana Supreme Court had applied, which borrowed from rules for brief street stops.

Case matters for domestic cases in Broward County for two reasons. It confirms that a call from a current or former partner can supply the basis for an emergency entry. It also confirms that the test is objective. Officers must point to facts, not instincts.

A second Supreme Court case limits the exception from the other side. In Caniglia v. Strom, 593 U.S. 194 (2021), the Court refused to recognize a general “community caretaking” exception that would let officers enter homes to check on welfare without a true emergency.

What Florida Courts Require

September 15, 2026

When a Family Argument Becomes a Felony: Aggravated Assault and Aggravated Battery in Florida

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense often turns on on the question of whether the State charges the defendant misdemeanor or a felony. Most domestic arrests in Broward County begin with an allegation of simple battery or simple assault. A weapon, a serious injury, a pregnancy, or a prior record can turn the same allegation into a felony with years of prison exposure. A new Florida law that took effect July 1, 2026, raises the stakes further for anyone with a prior domestic violence offense.

Domestic Violence Is a Label, Not a Specific Type of Crime

Florida has no standalone crime called “domestic violence.” Section 741.28 defines the term as a list of offenses committed by one family or household member against another. That list includes assault, aggravated assault, battery, and aggravated battery. The domestic label brings no-contact orders, batterers’ intervention programs, and other consequences. The underlying charge sets the penalty.

Simple battery is a first-degree misdemeanor under section 784.03, punishable by up to one year in jail. Simple assault is a second-degree misdemeanor under section 784.011, punishable by up to 60 days. Neither carries state prison time. The aggravated offenses do.

Aggravated Assault Under Section 784.021

Assault is a threat, not a touch. Under section 784.011, assault is an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence. The person making the threat must have the apparent ability to carry it out. The threat must create a well-founded fear that violence is about to happen. No one has to actually be hurt.

Section 784.021 makes an assault aggravated in two situations. The first is an assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. The second is an assault with intent to commit a felony. Aggravated assault is a third-degree felony. It carries up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The deadly weapon element drives most domestic aggravated assault charges. A person who picks up a kitchen knife during an argument faces a felony even if the knife never touches anyone. The same is true for a person who displays a handgun during a dispute. Florida law looks at how an object was used or threatened to be used, not at what the object is. A frying pan, a screwdriver, or a car can qualify when used in a way likely to cause death or great bodily harm.

Firearms add a mandatory minimum. Florida’s 10-20-Life law, section 775.087(2), requires a three-year minimum prison sentence for aggravated assault when the accused actually possessed a firearm.

Aggravated Battery Under Section 784.045

Battery requires an actual and intentional touching or striking against the other person’s will, or intentionally causing bodily harm. Section 784.045 makes a battery aggravated in three ways. The accused intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement. The accused used a deadly weapon. Or the person struck was pregnant, and the accused knew or should have known it. Continue reading

August 29, 2026

What HB 277 Actually Changed About Pets and Injunctions, and Why Respondents Should Care

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

The primary purpose of a Florida domestic violence injunction is to protect people, but attacks on pets were considered part of the court’s equation under F.S. 741.30(6)(b). But now, pet protections have been strengthened as of July 1, 2026, following the passage of CS/CS/HB 277. Now, the statute not only allows courts weighing domestic violence injunction petitions to assess whether a a respondent intentionally injured or killed a family pet, but also whether respondent merely threatened to do so.

Why That Distinction Matters to Domestic Violence Defendants

Proving intentional injury or death of a pet typically requires some combination of veterinary record, video evidence, witness testimony, digital message exchanges, or a confession. Proving a threat, meanwhile, may only require testimony about words. Obviously, video, audio, or digital evidence would strengthen the allegation, but it may not be necessary. Florida injunction hearings are generally civil proceedings, held on short notice, decided by a judge without a jury, and often resolved on the basis of which party the court finds more credible.

It should be noted that F.S. 741.30(6)(b) does not limit courts to consideration of the enumerated factors listed in the law. So a judge in Broward could already have weighed a threat against a dog under that catchall language. But the statute did provide a checkbox on the form and a talking point at the hearing, so it is likely we’ll see this point increasingly argued at injunction hearings.

Respondents should know such an allegation is a possibility and prepare to directly and with careful consideration rather than dismissing it as unserious.

The Research to Which Lawmakers Were Responding

The enumerated factor exists because the evidence behind it is substantial, and a respondent who treats it as a joke in front of a judge will lose ground. A systematic review published in Research in Veterinary Science examined 30 studies and found animal abuse prevalence in households with intimate partner violence ranging from 21 to 89 percent, with a significant relationship between the two. Research using the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey, a nationally representative sample rather than a shelter population, found that actual and threatened abuse of pets by a romantic partner significantly predicted that partner also perpetrating intimate partner violence, particularly physical and severe abuse. Continue reading

August 16, 2026

Judges Now Decide Who Enters Florida’s Veterans Treatment Courts

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

For years, a Fort Lauderdale DUI defense lawyer representing a veteran faced a structural problem. The office prosecuting the case also decided whether the client could get treatment instead. That changed on July 1, 2026.

CS/CS/HB 199 passed the Florida House 110-0 and the Senate 37-0 and became Chapter 2026-128. The bill removed the requirement that a defendant apply to the state attorney for veterans treatment court. Now under the new law, it is the court, in consultation with the multidisciplinary team, authorized to determine eligibility. The prosecutor still gets a voice, and the must consider any recommendation of the state attorney. However, the prosecutor no longer holds a sole veto.

The Previous Process for Veteran’s Court

The change is easiest to see in Broward County’s own paperwork. The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit has run a veterans court since 2012. The State Attorney’s Veterans Treatment Court Program Guidelines published prior to the law change directed the defendant to submit an application to the state attorney, who was authorized to review each application and determine defendant’s eligibility and decide, in consultation with the court, whether to allow the defendant to participate. Under the old law, prosecutors determined eligibility and had discretion about entry.

Now it is the court that determines eligibility, in consultation with the veteran’s treatment team. The prosecutor’s position is now a seat at the table rather than a gatekeeper. Criminal defense lawyers in Broward County expect the circuit will soon update the written guidelines, but won’t wait for that to request entry to the program for eligible clients.

Why This Matters Especially for Veterans Arrested for Fort Lauderdale DUI

Veterans court exists because mental and physical conditions related to military service tend to be associated with criminal offenses involving substance abuse. A meta-analysis in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation found PTSD in 27 percent of people with traumatic brain injury compared to 11 percent without, and found the rate reached 37 percent in military samples against 16 percent in civilian ones. Research summarized in the Journal of Veterans Studies reports that roughly 60 to 80 percent of justice-involved veterans had a substance use disorder before arrest, and that substance use raises the risk of justice involvement three to five fold.

A veteran drinking to manage sleep disruption, hypervigilance, or untreated pain does not usually surface in the system through a violent felony. They surface on Interstate-95 at 2 a.m. Continue reading

August 5, 2026

The Four Penalty Levels Under Fla. Stat. § 379.401: When an FWC Citation Stops Being a Fine

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

A Fort Lauderdale FWC violation defense lawyer often hears the same assumption during initial client consultations: The boater believed the paper an officer handed them on the water was a traffic ticket. Usually, it isn’t. Florida sorts fish and wildlife offenses into four penalty levels under Fla. Stat. § 379.401, and only the first level is non-criminal. The other three produce criminal records, mandatory minimum fines, and the loss of hunting and fishing privileges. Understanding the type and severity of the charges resulting from a run-in with an FWC officer is imperative to your defense.

Level One: A Civil Infraction With a Criminal Trapdoor

Level One FWC offenses concern documentation and access rules. Recreational license and permit requirements are detailed under F.S. § 379.354(1)-(15), along with quota hunt permits, camping and vehicle rules inside wildlife management areas, hunter safety course requirements under F.S. § 379.3581, and the return of unused CITES tags issued through the Statewide Alligator Harvest Program.

A Level One FWC violation is a non-criminal infraction. The officer cites the person, who is required to appear in county court. The civil penalty is $50, or $250 if the person committed the same Level One violation previously within the preceding 36 months. Someone cited for a license problem can often buy the license, show proof, and pay the $50 penalty by mail within 30 days.

Note: there are two provisions convert that infraction into a crime. Under § 379.401(1)(g), a person who refuses to accept the citation, fails to pay the penalty, or fails to appear in county court commits a second-degree misdemeanor. Under F.W. § 379.401(1)(h), a person who elects to appear waives the statutory caps, and the court may then impose up to $500 for subsequent violations. One provision cuts the other way. Under § 379.401(1)(i), a person cited for failing to carry a license may not be convicted if they produce a license that was valid on the date of the stop.

Level Two: The Line Between a Ticket and a Record

Level Two are criminal offenses, and these statutes are the most common basis for Broward County angler FWC stops. Closed seasons, bag limits, possession limits, size limits, restrictions on methods of taking, landing requirements, spearfishing under F.S. § 379.2425, tarpon taken without a tag under F.S. § 379.357(3), and alligator licensing and tagging under F.S. §§ 379.3751 and 379.3752 all fall at Level Two. Continue reading

July 26, 2026

FWC Officers Have Full Police Powers. Here Is What That Means for Your Case.

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Most people stopped by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer assume they are dealing with a game warden. They picture a narrow job. Check the license, measure the catch, write a ticket, move on. That assumption is wrong, and it produces arrests that a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney sees every week in Broward County court.

The Legislature Called Them Police Powers

Section 379.3311, Florida Statutes, is titled “Police powers of commission and its agents.” The title is not decorative. Subsection (1) constitutes FWC officers as peace officers with the power to make arrests for violations of the laws of this state, and it makes the general laws applicable to arrests by peace officers applicable to them.

FWC states the point plainly on its own website. The agency describes its sworn personnel as fully constituted police officers under Section 379.3311 with authority to enforce all laws of the state, not only those relating to fish and wildlife.

The jurisdiction is statewide. An FWC officer working the Intracoastal region of Broward County carries the same arrest authority as a Fort Lauderdale police officer on the streets. Section 379.3311(1) adds something no municipal officer has. It authorizes FWC officers to enter upon any land or waters of the state in performance of their lawful duties and declares that the entry does not constitute a trespass.

The Search Authority Comes With Conditions

Section 379.3311(2)(e) permits an officer to arrest without a warrant on probable cause and to examine any person, boat, conveyance, vehicle, game bag, or other receptacle for wildlife or marine life. Section 379.334 separately authorizes officers to board vessels and to enter fish houses, warehouses, and other buildings to search for and seize unlawfully held wildlife and gear without a warrant. Continue reading

July 20, 2026

Text Messages, Ring Cameras, and Location Data as Evidence in Fort Lauderdale Domestic Violence Cases

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Most domestic violence cases in Broward County involve two people, one version of events each, and no independent witnesses. Prosecutors fill that gap with evidence, which increasingly, is digital. Screenshots of text threads, doorbell camera clips, and cell phone location records now drive more domestic violence prosecutions in Fort Lauderdale than physical injuries do. Each of those categories carries a legal requirement that the State frequently overlooks, and every Fort Lauderdale domestic violence attorney should be testing those requirements before trial.

Screenshots Do Not Authenticate Themselves

A text message is a writing. Section 90.901, Florida Statutes, requires authentication as a condition precedent to admissibility, which means the proponent must produce evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what it claims to be. A printed screenshot showing a name and a phone number does not satisfy that burden by itself.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal, which governs Broward County, made the point directly in the civil case of Walker v. Harley-Anderson, 301 So. 3d 299 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020). (Note that domestic violence injunctions often arise from criminal cases, but they can be filed independently in the civil justice system as well.) The petitioner in that Florida stalking injunction case offered threatening text messages she attributed to the respondent. The messages were not recovered from the respondent’s phone under a search warrant, and no circumstantial evidence tied her to their authorship. The Fourth DCA held that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting them.

Authentication can be established through distinctive characteristics, contextual detail, or extrinsic evidence, as the court explained in Symonette v. State, 100 So. 3d 180 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). Where the State cannot make that showing, the consequence is severe. The text messages in Walker were the only evidence supporting the injunction, so the appellate court reversed and ordered the petition dismissed. Continue reading

July 6, 2026

Trenton’s Law Explained: Why Refusing a Breath Test Is Now a Crime in Florida

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Florida changed the math of every DUI stop on October 1, 2025. House Bill 687, known as Trenton’s Law, made a first refusal to submit to a lawful breath or urine test a criminal offense. Before that date, a first refusal cost a driver a license. Now it costs a driver a license and creates a second criminal case. Any Fort Lauderdale DUI defense lawyer handling arrests in Broward County has watched prosecutors add the refusal count as a matter of routine since the law took effect.

What the Statute Actually Says

Trenton’s Law, codified at Chapter 2025-121, Laws of Florida, amended two provisions of the Florida Traffic Control Law. It rewrote the implied consent warnings in Section 316.1932, Florida Statutes, and it expanded the refusal offense in Section 316.1939.

Under Florida Statute Section 316.1939(1)(e), a driver who refuses testing after being properly informed of the consequences commits a second degree misdemeanor for a first refusal. A second or subsequent refusal remains a first degree misdemeanor. The penalties come from Sections 775.082 and 775.083. A second degree misdemeanor carries up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. A first-degree misdemeanor carries up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The refusal provision drew the most attention, but it was not the only change. Trenton’s Law also reclassified a second or subsequent conviction for DUI manslaughter or vehicular homicide from a second-degree felony to a first degree felony. The maximum sentence for those repeat offenses jumped from 15 years to 30 years in state prison. Continue reading

June 30, 2026

Your DUI and Your Job: CDLs, Nursing Licenses, and Professional Consequences in Florida

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

A DUI arrest is stressful for anyone. For people whose paycheck depends on a license, it can feel like the ground is shifting under their feet. In South Florida, where commercial drivers and healthcare workers fill the roads and hospitals, a single bad decision behind the wheel can reach far past the courtroom. Understanding that reach early, with help from a Fort Lauderdale DUI attorney, often makes the difference between a setback and a lost career.

The Criminal Case Is Only the Beginning

Florida’s DUI law, Section 316.193 of the Florida Statutes, sets the baseline penalties: fines, possible jail, license revocation, probation, DUI school, and an ignition interlock device for many drivers. A first conviction can bring a fine of up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail. Those penalties are serious on their own. For a licensed professional, though, they are only the opening chapter. A second, parallel process plays out in front of a licensing board or a state agency, and that process follows its own rules.

CDL Holders: A Higher Standard and Higher Stakes

Commercial drivers carry a heavier burden. While ordinary motorists are measured against a 0.08 blood alcohol limit, a CDL holder operating a commercial vehicle can be charged at 0.04. Worse, the consequences attach even when the arrest happens in a personal car on a day off.

Under Section 322.61 of the Florida Statutes, a first DUI conviction disqualifies a person from operating a commercial vehicle for one year. If the driver was hauling hazardous materials, that period climbs to three years. A second DUI conviction means a lifetime disqualification. Florida offers no hardship CDL to bridge the gap, so for many drivers a conviction lands the same way a pink slip does. Acting fast to challenge the stop, the testing, and the charge itself is critical.

Nurses and the 30-Day Clock