domestic violence

October 5, 2024

How Broward Domestic Violence Charges Can Impact Child Custody

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

One of the most pressing concerns for many criminal defense clients facing Broward domestic violence charges is how it could potentially impact child custody. It’s important to understand that in addition to criminal case restrictions and penalties, domestic violence charges and convictions can significantly affect your ability to gain or maintain custody of your children.

Family courts in Florida prioritize the safety and well-being of children above all else. Although these cases are separate (with domestic violence charges generally being handled in criminal court and child custody matters handled in civil court), allegations of domestic violence can result in severe consequences for parents – even before criminal conviction.

Working with an experienced domestic violence criminal defense lawyer, you may benefit from well-planned defense strategies that can help minimize the negative impact in both criminal and civil courts.

The Connection Between Domestic Violence and Child Custody

In Florida, family courts are obligated to consider the best interests of the child when determining custody arrangements. Florida Statutes § 61.13 specifically direct judges to consider domestic violence as a key factor when making custody decisions. Even allegations of domestic violence, whether they result in a conviction or not, can impact the court’s view of a parent’s fitness to care for their child.

Here are the primary ways domestic violence charges can affect child custody: Continue reading

September 7, 2024

Understanding Florida Domestic Violence Laws: What Every Fort Lauderdale Defendant Should Know

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

As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney, I’ve represented many individuals facing domestic violence charges. I understand the serious legal consequences that these charges can bring. If you or someone you know has been accused of domestic violence in Fort Lauderdale, it’s critical to understand the legal framework surrounding these cases.

Florida’s domestic violence laws are designed to protect victims — also provide avenues for a robust defense if you are wrongfully accused or if the circumstances are not as clear-cut as they may initially seem.

Here’s what every defendant should know about domestic violence laws in Florida and how a skilled Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney can help navigate these complex cases.

What Constitutes Domestic Violence in Florida?

Under Florida law, domestic violence is defined as any assault, battery, stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or other criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another family or household member. This broad definition covers a wide range of actions that can be considered domestic violence, including:

Physical Assault: Hitting, pushing, slapping, or otherwise physically harming a partner, spouse, or family member.
Threats of Violence: Threatening harm, even if no physical contact occurs.
Stalking or Harassment: Repeatedly following or contacting someone in a way that causes fear or distress.
Kidnapping or False Imprisonment: Restricting someone’s freedom to leave a location or situation.

Domestic violence laws in Florida also apply to people who share or have shared a dwelling as a family, including spouses, former spouses, co-parents, and individuals who are or were in a dating relationship. This broad scope means that even disputes between people who aren’t married but live together or have a child together can lead to domestic violence charges.

Penalties for Domestic Violence in Florida

January 6, 2023

Exploring Mutual Combat Defense in Florida Domestic Violence Cases

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

Questions about the mutual combat defense in Florida domestic violence cases arose recently when video surfaced of UFC President Dana White slapping his wife, Anne, at a night club in Mexico on New Year’s Eve – after she slapped him.

The TMZ video showed the couple in a verbal altercation that turned physical, with Dana pushing Anne’s hand, Anne slapping Dana in the face, and Dana then slapping Anne twice in her face. The two continued to physically struggle with each other until they were separated by third parties. Both released statements after the fact saying nothing like this had ever happened before, they’d both been drinking too much alcohol, and were eager to move on.

Some have called for Dana’s resignation from his prominent public position, while certain media outlets and individual anchors have been criticized for “being soft” or “muted” in their reporting of the incident. But whatever professional consequences there are for what happened, few people are talking about criminal penalties for either spouse. Although domestic violence is illegal in Mexico, it’s unlikely authorities there will issue a warrant and demand extradition of either party here, considering no one was seriously hurt and both parties were aggressive toward each other.

If this same incident had occurred in Florida – and with video evidence, no less – it’s unlikely neither party would walk away with zero consequences. Still, some have asked whether the mutual combat defense may apply.

Florida Law Expressly Discourages Dual Arrests for Domestic Violence

Although both people involved in a Florida domestic violence case can be arrested for the same incident, F.S. 741.29(4)(b) strongly discourages dual arrests (where both parties are arrested for domestic violence). Instead, as our Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense lawyers can explain, officers who believe two or more persons may have committed a misdemeanor or felony act of domestic violence are urged to identify the primary aggressor. Even if both people hit each other, the officer is supposed to figure out (usually after the fact, based on he-said-she-said statements) who was more at-fault.

Arrest is the preferred response – for the “primary aggressor” only. If the other person “acts in a reasonable manner to protect or defend oneself or another family or household member from domestic violence,” they should not be arrested. Continue reading

January 3, 2019

Consequences When College Football Players are Arrested for Domestic Violence in Florida

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

A local college football player is facing serious consequences – on and off the field – following his Broward County arrest for domestic violence. The 21-year-old running back, a junior at Florida International University, has been investigation since mid-June, when a woman he was dating filed a report with the Broward County s Sheriff’s Office, claiming he’d choked her. The case was disposed of in August.

In an odd twist of events, investigators opened a second investigation into the same incident that same month and issued a warrant for his arrest. Based on a report from CBS Miami, that warrant remained active, even while the student continued to attend major games in front of thousands of fans for almost the full season – 11 games – up until his arrest just before Christmas. As a result of the charges, he was not able to play in the Bahamas Bowl, the biggest game of the season.

It’s not clear exactly why it took authorities six months to serve the warrant and make an arrest, such a delay isn’t unheard of.

Digging deeper, this South Florida domestic violence arrest touches on a few issues our criminal defense lawyers feel deserve a closer look. Continue reading

May 1, 2017

Hollywood Police Target Domestic Violence Offenders

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

City police in Hollywood are taking aim at those previously arrested for domestic violence, vowing beefed up penalties and scrutiny – up to and including unannounced, uninvited police checks on individual residences.

The Miami Herald reports the letter, an effort initiated by the city police department’s Domestic Violence Unit, is a way of stopping domestic violence acts that may occur in the future at the hands of designated “C list” violators. The city says it is simply targeting repeat domestic violence offenders with the intent to halt the cycle of repeat abuse. They call this approach “focused deterrence.”

There are many, though, who have been highly critical of this approach – including the Broward Public Defender’s Office, which called the tactic an abuse of power. Essentially, they say, the police are punishing and/ or harassing people for an offense that hasn’t yet occurred and may not ever occur. Continue reading

March 29, 2017

Intoxication Defense Presented in Broward Domestic Violence Trial

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

The intoxication defense is not one that is often used in criminal cases because it is rather difficult to successfully assert. The crux of it, though, is that a defendant, due to intoxication, did not understand the nature of his or her actions or know what he or she was doing, and therefore had limited culpability.

The defense typically only applies in very limited circumstances, and often depends on whether intoxication was voluntary or not and the level of intent required by statute for the particular charge at issue.

Recently in Broward County, a defense lawyer on a domestic violence case revealed his intent to assert the intoxication defense on behalf of a U.S. Air Force veteran who served overseas and was suffering severe post-traumatic stress disorder, back pain and depression at the time of the alleged incident. Continue reading