Domestic Violence Charges

Domestic violence involves dangerous behaviors like threats of violence and violent actions like battery that are used to establish control over a partner's activities. Domestic violence goes beyond an argument or difficulty controlling anger. It involves abuse and hurtful conduct that one partner or family member uses against another person with whom he or she shares a home or familial relationship. If you are charged with domestic violence, you should consult Bradenton domestic violence lawyer Will Hanlon at Hanlon Law. He vigilantly protects the rights of the accused.

Loosely, domestic violence can involve kicking, slapping, arm twisting, burning, shaking, hitting, strangling, or hair pulling. This physical violence may be coupled with harm to pets, manipulation of children, acting with extreme jealousy, threats to commit suicide, control of money, stalking, or demanding sex.

Domestic violence is prohibited under Florida Statute section 741.28. By law, it can include battery, assault, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, false imprisonment, kidnapping, or any other crime that causes physical injuries or death to a family or household member by another household or family member.

Who qualifies as a family or household member under the domestic violence statute? Spouses, ex-spouses, people related by marriage or blood, people living together like a family or who have done so in the past as if they were a family, and people who parent a child together (irrespective of their marital status) are all family or household members. Other than parents with a child in common, family or household members under the statute need to be living together or must have previously lived together in a single dwelling unit. A knowledgeable domestic violence attorney can help Bradenton residents understand whether this designation may apply to their case.

For example, if you beat up your child's pregnant mother with a baseball bat, you could be charged with domestic violence and aggravated battery. For another example, if you lived with your father-in-law and got into a fistfight with him, in which his only injuries were bruises, you could be charged with domestic violence and battery. For another example, if you repeatedly stalked your ex-wife and violated an anti-stalking restraining order, you could be charged with domestic violence as well as aggravated stalking.

In addition to being charged under the domestic violence statute, you can also be charged for other criminal offenses. For example, a domestic violence incident involving a gun could also be charged as aggravated battery. A domestic violence incident involving credible threats of imminent violence with a broken beer bottle could also be charged as aggravated assault. Our Bradenton domestic violence attorney can coordinate a strategy to help you fight all of the charges.

If you are found guilty of domestic violence, you will need to serve at least one year on probation, and you will need to go to a batterers' intervention program. The court must impose the program as a condition of your probation unless the judge says on the record why this condition is not right in your case. If you are convicted, and an intentional infliction of physical injuries is involved, you will need to serve at least five days in county jail unless your sentence includes a period of incarceration in a state correctional facility that is not suspended.

If a victim of domestic violence gets an injunction or restraining order against you, any violation of that order can be prosecuted as a first-degree misdemeanor. This comes with a potential sentence of one year for violating an injunction.

As of October 1, 2017, there have been some changes to Florida's domestic violence laws. The changes include minimum jail sentences, provisions related to domestic violence in front of a child, and withholding of adjudication that previously allowed some convicted defendants to still possess firearms.

Any form of domestic violence is a serious crime that may be vigorously prosecuted and punished. You should secure counsel as soon as possible. Our founder, Will Hanlon, has aggressively and knowledgeably represented the accused since 1994. You can call Hanlon Law at 941.253.0254 or use our online form.