Domestic Violence Attorney in Daytona Beach, Florida

If you’ve been arrested on a domestic violence charge in Florida, you need to seek legal representation immediately. Florida typically prosecutes these cases to the full extent of the law, and you need to ensure your rights and civil liberties are being protected, regardless of your guilt or innocence. 
If you’re in the Daytona Beach, Florida area, including the surrounding cities of DeLand, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, Palm Coast, Volusia County, and Flagler County, contact us at DaytonaDefense.com today. We’re committed to providing all our clients with the skilled legal representation they deserve.

Domestic Violence in Florida

Domestic violence charges cover a range of offenses such as domestic battery, assault, and sexual assault. To be considered domestic violence, the offense must result in the injury or death of a family member or member of a household whom the defendant is living with. This could be any family member such as a parent, child, spouse, or sibling, but can also include co-habitants such as a current or former romantic partner as long as they resided or currently reside in the same dwelling unit. The only exception to this rule is for parents who share a child together. In this case, a charge can still be classified as domestic violence even if the two have never lived together.

Possible Consequences and Penalties

The possible consequences of a domestic violence conviction will vary widely depending on your specific circumstances, but do note that Florida takes these charges very seriously. It’s essential that you have a qualified criminal defense attorney working on your side to minimize your penalties as much as possible. Your penalties will likely be more severe if you have prior convictions (especially any involving domestic violence), if there were children present at the time of the incident, or if the incident occurred while you were already under an injunction by a judge.

Initially, if someone files a domestic violence charge against you, they can petition the court and request an injunction (also called a restraining order) if they feel they’re in immediate danger. In these cases, you may or may not be able to attend the hearing and a judge can order an injunction against you. This usually means that you are not allowed to go near your accuser, that you may not reside in your home with them, or that you may not be able to have contact with any of your children you share with the accuser until your trial is complete. A judge may also issue an order for you to attend immediate counseling or treatment programs.

Other penalties include a mandatory one-year probation period for anyone convicted of domestic violence and possibly being ordered to attend anger management classes or other intervention programs. A conviction may also bring with it jail time, fines, community service hours, loss of civil liberties such as your right to carry a firearm, loss of child custody or parenting privileges, or deportation.

Possible Defenses

Unfortunately, many defendants are incorrectly accused of domestic violence or the charges are blown out of proportion. Still, in other cases, the defendant might be guilty of committing the crime, but that does not mean they don’t deserve skilled legal counsel. These charges could include physical assault against a family member or sexual abuse charges, but in all cases, we’ll work with you to ensure you have the best possible defense. When deciding how to defend against a domestic violence charge, we’ll examine all the evidence, listen thoroughly to your side of the story, and work to find inconsistencies in the prosecution’s arguments. 

One possible defense is that you were falsely accused. Unfortunately, sometimes a family member or partner will knowingly accuse someone of a crime as a form of revenge even though no violence took place. 

In other cases, you may be able to plead self-defense. Many of these incidents occur as the result of heated arguments and oftentimes, both partners will become physically aggressive. If we can prove that your actions were only used to defend yourself from an attack, then you may be able to have your charges reduced or even dismissed. 

Lastly, we may be able to show that you had no intent to cause physical harm and that the resulting injury was accidental. While this may not eliminate charges altogether, it may help to reduce the penalties associated with them.