Violent Crimes

Charges in this area range from simple battery through aggravated assault and up to the most serious offenses in the criminal code. What they have in common is that they are usually built on the accounts of people who were present, and those accounts are rarely as settled as the arrest report makes them appear.

What happens before trial

In many of these cases a no contact order is entered early. It can keep you out of your own home, away from your children, and away from a workplace you share with the other person. Violating it is a separate crime, even if the other person invited the contact. We work on modifying these orders where that is possible, and we make sure you understand exactly what the order covers before you accidentally breach it.

Self defense

Florida law recognises the right to defend yourself and others, and in appropriate cases it provides for a pretrial hearing on immunity rather than leaving the question for a jury. Whether that applies depends closely on the facts: who moved first, what was said, whether there was a way out, and what injuries each person had. Photographs of your own injuries, taken early, are often the most valuable evidence in the file.

Domestic cases have their own dynamic

Once a domestic violence charge is filed, it belongs to the state, not to the person who called the police. That means the case does not necessarily go away if that person no longer wants to proceed. Prosecutors can and do continue on the basis of recordings, photographs, and medical records. What the state can actually prove without a cooperating witness is a different question, and it is one worth examining carefully.

What we do early

• Find and preserve video before it is overwritten, which in many systems happens within weeks.
• Identify witnesses who were there but were never interviewed by police.
• Document your injuries and the scene while both still show what happened.
• Look at prior history between the people involved, which often reframes the incident entirely.