Jacksonville, Florida
Domestic Violence Law
Domestic Violence is any assault or aggravated assault; battery or aggravated battery; sexual assault or sexual battery; stalking or aggravated stalking; false imprisonment, kidnapping or any other criminal offense that results in either physical injury or death of either a family or household member by another family or household member.
Family or Household Members are:
- Spouses
- Former spouses
- People related by blood or marriage
- People who are presently living together as a family or who have lived together in the past as a family
- People who are parents of a child in common regardless of whether they have been married
With the exception of people who have a child in common, the family or household members must be currently living or have in the past lived together in the same house.
If a call is made for police officers to respond to a domestic violence situation and there is an injury to one party the police officers are required to make an arrest. An arrest for domestic violence in Florida could lead to a misdemeanor or felony conviction depending on how serious the injury to the victim is. Along with an arrest you could be sent to jail, placed on probation, have to pay fines, attend counseling, and have restraining orders placed on you.
In Duval, Clay and Nassau Counties the State Attorney’s Office aggressively prosecutes domestic crimes. Often the victim wants to “drop” the charges but the State pursues the prosecution anyways. Sometimes an experienced criminal defense attorney who knows the law can fight to protect your rights by taking sworn statements of witnesses including the victim.
Contact any one of our two Jacksonville, Florida criminal defense offices for more info.
