Articles Posted in Domestic Violence

A new report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that nearly a quarter of all violent victimizations in the country – including rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated and simple assault – stemmed from a domestic situation.

Analysts culled victim-offender relationship data from the National Crime Victimization Survey over the 10-year period, and determined that 15 percent were the result of intimate partner violence, 4 percent by immediate family members and 2 percent by other relatives. Casual or well-known acquaintances accounted for 32 percent of all violent incidents, while strangers accounted for nearly 40 percent.

Our Domestic violence defense attorneys in Fort Lauderdale recognize that society has an interest in protecting victims of serious crime. However, too often the pendulum has swung the other way, making it far too easy for an exaggerated report or an incident of mutual violence to result in serious charges and lifelong consequences.
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It’s not unusual in Fort Lauderdale domestic violence cases for prosecutors to offer defendants a plea “deal.”

However, experienced criminal defense lawyers know that all too frequently, these offers are not advantageous to the accused – particularly when there may be grounds to have the charges significantly reduced or dismissed.

Prosecutors pose the offer as if it is one or the other: Plead guilty and take the “deal” or go to trial and face jail or prison time. Public defenders, who are often overworked and underpaid, may not have the time or resources to mount a viable defense. You may be urged to simply take the deal.
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The Florida Department of Children and Families received a spate of calls regarding alleged abuse involving a father and his young son.

Authorities dug deeper to learn the accused had recently been embroiled in a custody battle with his ex-wife over the son in question. Investigators found no evidence of abuse, and this resulted in three individuals – the ex-wife and two of her friends – being arrested for making a false report of child abuse.

Our Fort Lauderdale domestic violence attorneys know that such outcomes are rare. In a great number of these cases, authorities are hasty in making arrests, for fear of being held liable in some way if they fail to act and something more serious occurs.
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Glittering lights may adorn the outside of many homes this time of year.

Too often though, that facade betrays the darker reality of what is occurring behind closed doors.

There is no question that the number of domestic violence charges in Browardand elsewhere spike during the holiday season. Contributing factors include financial pressures, unrealistic expectations and often, the increased consumption of alcohol. Also during this time, couples who might be on the brink of breaking up will try to hold it together through the first of the year – only to find tensions rise to the breaking point and beyond.
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Years ago, a bad break-up might linger in your mind for a few weeks or months, giving way to the occasional pang of rejection or regret only every so often.

Even if forgetting wasn’t fully possible, it was easier back then to let go.

Our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyers know it’s much tougher these days because updates on virtually anyone’s ex are available with just a few clicks. Social media connections are such that it may seem you are never truly able to disconnect and move on. This is compounded by the fact that we all have such instantaneous access to voice our immediate anger and frustrations – in some cases very publicly. It’s no wonder that cases of harassment and aggravated stalking have risen in recent years.
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An argument over a pot-gobbling pooch ended with a South Florida model in handcuffs after telling deputies her boyfriend had repeatedly walked into the knife in her hand.

The 26-year-old was arrested for domestic battery in Dania Beach after responding deputies took note of a couple small knife cuts to the boyfriend’s head and face and another cut across his hand. He was not seriously injured and did not require hospitalization.

Although reporters described the judge as “bemused” as he read aloud the incident report before the court during the defendant’s first appearance, a charge of domestic battery is no laughing matter.
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A Florida appellate court has ruled that a woman who received two decades behind bars for firing a warning shot at her reportedly abusive husband – a shot that injured no one – is entitled to a new trial.

Our domestic violence defense attorneys in Fort Lauderdale are familiar with the case, in which the defendant was given a mandatory 20-year sentence by a reluctant judge after a conviction on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The appellate court’s decision in Alexander v. State of Florida hinged on the fact that the jury had been improperly instructed with regard to the issue of self-defense. Prior to the conviction, the jury had been told that in order for her to claim self-defense, she would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she believed her husband was about to seriously harm her or her children, who were present in the home.
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A 25-year-old man from Coconut Creek has been arrested for stalking pro-golfer Morgan Pressel – the third time since 2009 that he’s been arrested for the same offense. He’s been arrested on at least four other occasions since 2007 for trespassing and contempt of court.

Authorities say the defendant began harassing Pressel via Twitter several days before he attempted to gain access to the gated community where she lives, telling a security guard that he was her boyfriend. The security guard, aware of the restraining order, contacted sheriff’s deputies. At the time of his arrest, he was subject to an order of protection mandating he stay at least 500 feet from her and her home.

The case was made particularly noteworthy because of the celebrity element. It’s fairly obvious when hearing the defendant’s explanation (that another professional golfer, Jack Nicklaus, and the CIA had instructed him to go to Pressel’s home) that there is something amiss. However, our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyers know that the majority of stalking arrests in Florida stem from domestic disputes or between individuals who actually know one another.
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The 31-year-old mother of a toddler and 11-year-old twins had never before been arrested.

She had never intended for anyone to get hurt.

In fact, no one was hurt when she fired a warning shot into a wall three years ago to scare her husband, whom she felt was physically threatening her, into backing off.

And yet, our Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense lawyers have learned, she has been slapped with a 20-year prison sentence.

This is a miscarriage of justice, and it highlights some of the deep flaws in the state’s minimum mandatory sentencing laws, which allow for little to no judicial discretion if a person is convicted.

Cases like this show why it’s so important to hire a good lawyer from the very beginning of a case, and hopefully help you avoid a conviction and ultimately a tragic outcome.

The woman was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to Florida Statute 784.021, an aggravated assault is an assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill or with intent to commit a felony. It’s a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. However, because she fired a gun while committing a felony, it is boosted the penalty. Under the state’s mandatory minimum gun laws, a 20-year sentence was required.

The judge in this case refused to allow the defendant to invoke the state’s “Stand Your Ground” defense law, which would have given her the opportunity to argue self defense.

Critics are decrying the assertion that racism may be at play here.

In this case, the defendant was a young black woman who had a master’s degree and no criminal record. Her husband, however, reportedly had a history of abuse. The gun was legally registered and owned. She had a restraining order against him, even though she’d only had a child with him less than two weeks earlier. She had only gone to the home to retrieve her belongings. Even her estranged husband would later admit to police that he had abused her, he threatened her life that afternoon and he never believe she intended to kill him because the gun was never pointed directly at him. Yet she was convicted in less than 15 minutes by a jury and sentenced to 20 years in prison by a judge who said he had no other choice.

Yet, another recent case involved an elderly white man who walked in on his wife engaging in sex with a younger man and shot the other man dead. In that case, he claimed he believed he walked in on a stranger who had broken into his home and was raping his wife. In that case, he was acquitted under the “Stand Your Ground” law.

The minimum mandatory sentencing, which is known as the state’s “10-20-life” law was implemented in 1999. Anyone who displays a firearm in the commission of certain felonies receives an automatic 10 years behind bars. Anyone who fires a gun in the commission of certain felonies will receive a mandatory 20 years. If someone is shot or killed, he or she will receive 25 years to life in prison.

Florida is one of many states with minimum mandatory laws, mostly pertaining to drugs. But cases like this show how unfair these statutes can be. Even the Republican state legislator who originally created the law back in 1999 said the sentence in this case was not what lawmakers intended. Rather, he said, lawmakers were seeking to “get at the thug who was robbing a liquor store and… pulled out a gun and shot someone during the commission of a crime.”

Unfortunately, when lawmakers fail to consider the consequences of drafting overly-broad legislation, this is the kind of result we might see.
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In Pompano Beach, police reported that a 23-year-old man was arrested after reportedly attacking and choking his father, stopping only after the family’s dog, a pit bull, intervened and jumped on the back of the son.

Our Broward domestic violence defense lawyers recognize that domestic violence cases are always fraught with he-said-she-said, and unfortunately almost always, someone is going to jail, even when both parties may actually be equally culpable.

Most often, people think of domestic violence as occurring between those who have a romantic relationships. But parent-child relationships can be equally volatile.

Charges in these cases can be particularly severe, if the person alleged to be the victim is over the age of 65.

Some adult children may fail to take this aspect into account when the argument begins to escalate.

Florida statute 825.102 holds that abuse of an elderly person is defined as the intentional infliction of physical or psychological injury on an adult who is elderly or disabled or an intentional act that could be reasonably expected to result in physical or psychological injury to the elderly adult. One could also be charged under this statute if he or she is found to have actively encouraged another person to commit an act that results or might reasonably result in physical or psychological injury to the elderly victim.

Even if no serious bodily harm or permanent disability results from this action, the defendant could still be facing a third-degree felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

If the abuse is deemed to be aggravated – that is, it involves aggravated battery or willful torture, malicious punishment or caging that results in great bodily harm or permanent disability, the charge is hiked up to a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

By contrast, defendants charged solely with domestic violence will rarely face that kind of time.

Still, that’s not to say it isn’t serious. A conviction could be used against you in your divorce or child custody hearing – regardless of whether the incident involved the person you are now up against in the civil case. Plus, you won’t be able to bond out of jail immediately, you may have to surrender your firearms, it could be grounds for deportation and it could affect your current job or future employment prospects.

In this case, the argument involved an adult son and father and it was over money. It was around 9 a.m., and the argument rapidly escalated, with the son allegedly throwing his father to the ground and placing him a chokehold with his arm around his father’s neck.

The father would later tell investigators he struggled to gasp for air. The two men continued to fight throughout the house – into the kitchen and then back into the living room – where the father was again placed in another chokehold.

The father reportedly began yelling for help, and a neighbor burst in at that point, trying to pull the son off his father. He wasn’t strong enough, but around this time, the family’s pill bull jumped into the brawl.

The dog bit everyone involved a number of times.

The son then fled the apartment. He was arrested a short time later at a residence nearby.

Emergency medical services responded to treat the father for injuries, but the father declined.

The son was charged with domestic battery by strangulation and battery with domestic violence. These are third-degree felony charges, punishable by up to five years in prison.

He was not charged with elder abuse, as the father was just a few years shy of the cut-off for that charge.
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