Q: Need help with a juvenile case. My son (from a previous relationship), who is 14 years old is being charged with L&L battery on his younger sister, who is 4 years old (my daughter also). However, there was no battery (unless I'm reading the law wrong). He did touch her inappropriately, but reading the Florida law on L&L battery battery doesn't fit with the situation. The siblings do live in the same home. I put my son in a youth shelter on 10/1 and he will be released tomorrow. All investigations have been complete on the part of the police dept and is now in the hands of the State Atty. Can anyone tell me what may happen with my son? He has never been arrested for this, has no record and only my fiance has received a summons to give a witness testimony on the case (not sure why as we all live together). Just to clarify some things, my fiance and I have the daughter (victim, 4) and a son (6) together. My 14 year old is from a previous relationship. My daughter is getting the help she needs but any idea on what I can expect to happen with my son? He was never arrested and DCF said they can't help because of his age.I love my son and want him to get help but I don't want him railroaded. He is a good kid in general, he does well academically, and has NO prior record. The detective said he was being charged with L&L molestation, but the witness summons my fiance got from the state attorney says L&L battery, which is indicative of some force used. But there wasn't any kind of force. What can I expect will happen with my son? Will he have to register as an offender? Will he be sent to a program? No one is telling me anything so I am very confused, worried and scared.
Answered . First, L&L does not require the perpetrator and the victim to reside in the same home and second, in FL a battery is a non-consensual touching - so you have thoroughly incorrectly read the law.
Your son could be prosecuted for his inappropriate touching, but the question is where. Given his age I am almost certain that he would be kept in the juvenile system. He is not only young enough, but he also has no priors and, most importantly, as the juvenile system is geared toward helping / rehabilitating (whereas the adult system is geared strictly toward punishment) he stands his best shot at treatment and awareness in the juvenile system.
Juvenile Court is different than adult in many ways. Most significant are the lack of bond / bail in juvenile cases, the lack of juries in juvenile proceedings and, as stated, the goals and means of providing assistance to at risk kids such that they become responsible adults.
From what you have proffered your son is a perfect candidate for juvenile prosecution and, in his case, this might be the bets thing that ever happens/happened to him. The best thing that you can do is to be understand and supportive - to assist him in being compliant with the system - and of course if you can afford to retain experienced G-ville area criminal defense counsel that would be beneficial. (If not don't sweat it; instead concentrate on being understand and supportive and have faith in the PD - they are well-trained, highly capable and have the necessary resources to diagnose the situation and generate a comprehensive plan which will serve your son's personal and legal interests.)
Good luck!
First, second and third: No attorney-client relationship exists by virtue of any Q&A with Michael A. Haber, Esq. on Avvo. Fourth: Anything that you post on Avvo (or on similar sites) or on any social media is by its nature public. It is essentially an admission / confession and can be introduced into evidence as a statement against your interest in a subsequent legal proceeding. Once posted you lose any reasonable expectation of privacy, so, as this is an open forum (with no privilege attached), please be extra careful when considering what to post online (forewarned is forearmed.)
At Michael A. Haber, P.A. the goals in representing folks are A) to be honest and realistic about litigation objectives; B) to be fair in regard to fees; C) to be consistently available and responsive to the client (in person, by phone call, text, email, Facebook. Twitter and otherwise); D) to keep the client informed; and E) to secure your positive feedback / client review at the conclusion of each case.
At Michael A. Haber, P.A. "Its all about reasonable doubt"!
Michael A. Haber, Esq. is prepared to speak with you about your case!
THIS BLOG POST (AS ARE ALL #HABERPA BLOG POSTS) IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT WHICH IS PRIMARILY DESIGNED, BY WAY OF REAL WORLD EXAMPLE, TO ASSIST THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN AVOIDING CONDUCT WHICH COULD FORESEEABLY RESULT IN ARREST AND PROSECUTION!
Q: Step daughter is 18 she and felony charges, first time in county as an adult in Polk county FL. 2 felony charges, poss of meth and poss of para. 6 fel charges of false info to pawn broker and 6 fel charges of dealing in stolen property. As a juvie she has B&E, battery and petti theft. Is there any idea of a ball park figure to what those score out?
Answered . Ball parking is a waste of time. If you want to seek a real answer - a productive answer - then you'll have to take the time to do so in person. You need to ask a Lakeland area lawyer to look at the arrest / probably cause affidavit, and review your step-daughters circumstances in light of her/his knowledge of the Judge and State Attorney.
Florida has 20 different Judicial Circuits, each of which deals with cases in its own manner. Moreover, each of those Judicial Circuits has a given number of criminal court Judges (each of whom is unique), as well as its own State Attorney's Office (each of which has its own policies and procedures), and a bunch of Assistant State Attorneys (who, although they operate on guidelines as established by their office, are each sentient and independent persons), and each case has its own set of variables ("free radicals" if you will) all of which combine to make it impossible to predict what will happen in a given case.
The best advise you are going to get on a given case is to find yourself a local criminal defense attorney (in your case in the Lakeland area), make an appointment, show up on time and bring with you as much relevant paperwork or information as possible.
Although I practice primarily in Miami-Dade County you are welcome to contact my office for a referral or two, or you can search either Avvo or the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers website by locality (please seehttp://www.facdl.org/ - and click on the "Find A Lawyer" tab).
That said I invite you to read #HaberPA's AVVO Legal Guide on Sentencing in FL at the following link: https://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/sentencing-in-florida--the-mathematics-procedures-and-the-realities I also invite you to watch #HaberPA's VideoFAQ # 111) Litigating Sentencing Hearings in FL - https://youtu.be/nrr-TnJaERw Either way best of luck!
First, second and third: No attorney-client relationship exists by virtue of any Q&A with Michael A. Haber, Esq. on Avvo. Fourth: Anything that you post on Avvo (or on similar sites) or on any social media is by its nature public. It is essentially an admission / confession and can be introduced into evidence as a statement against your interest in a subsequent legal proceeding. Once posted you lose any reasonable expectation of privacy, so, as this is an open forum (with no privilege attached), please be extra careful when considering what to post online (forewarned is forearmed.)
At Michael A. Haber, P.A. the goals in representing folks are A) to be honest and realistic about litigation objectives; B) to be fair in regard to fees; C) to be consistently available and responsive to the client (in person, by phone call, text, email, Facebook. Twitter and otherwise); D) to keep the client informed; and E) to secure your positive feedback / client review at the conclusion of each case.
At Michael A. Haber, P.A. "Its all about reasonable doubt"!
Michael A. Haber, Esq. is prepared to speak with you about your case!
THIS BLOG POST (AS ARE ALL #HABERPA BLOG POSTS) IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT WHICH IS PRIMARILY DESIGNED, BY WAY OF REAL WORLD EXAMPLE, TO ASSIST THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN AVOIDING CONDUCT WHICH COULD FORESEEABLY RESULT IN ARREST AND PROSECUTION!
Q: I was play fighting with my son (Slap Boxing) which is 20 yrs. old. A police officer saw me strike him 3 times to the face. I was charge with Domestic Battery. The Officer was in his car at a traffic light and we were about 200 ft away from the officer on the front lawn of a gas station. Do you think the state will prosecute if these are the facts and my son and I affirms that we were play fighting, something we do often. My son has redness on the right side of his face and slight swelling not much at all.
Answered . Domestic Violence (DV) cases present wrinkles for everyone in the system (the Defendant, the State and the Court), as they almost always involve emotional charged folks who's lives are either interdependent or interconnected, the potential for repeat or escalated violence is almost always high and there is more often then not the likelihood that a victim will, for whatever reasons, wish not to prosecute the perpetrator. For these reasons, in FL DV cases Defendant's suffer aggressive prosecution (more aggressive than many other offenses), the State feels obligated to "force" all victim's to "help themselves" (which serves the dual purpose of covering its own ass in the event of a subsequent violent altercation) and the Court engages in pure self-protection (no Judge wants to read her/his name in the paper as being responsible for "cutting loose" the repeat DV offender who re-injures, more seriously injures or kills a victim when the Court could have acted to prevent the same from occurring). These are the practical realities of DV cases that we all must live with and it is for these reasons that there is a mandatory 24 hold (a statutorily required cooling-off period) for anyone booked into a FL jail for any DV case and that DV victim's are afforded special protections, are required to be evaluated (if only by responding officers who have a DV "checklist") and are required to be provided information about alternatives to returning to "life" with the alleged perpetrator
Fortunately, in many cases, and particularly those where the offense did not result in any serious injury and ultimately amounted to an unfortunate but otherwise understandable incident, there is a way to effect the State's decision to prosecute.
In Florida victims of crimes have rights, both constitutional (s. 16, Art. I of the Florida's State Constitution) and by statute. Still, in Florida the State Attorney is empowered to bring criminal charges to bear on behalf of all of the people of the State, the victim being only one of those millions of people (albeit usually an important one to the success of their case). If you are accurately reflecting the facts (that "my son and I affirms that we were play fighting, something we do often") and if you want to increase your odds at having the State pursue your and your son's interests then your son can hire his own criminal defense lawyer to serve as his Victim's Right's Advocate.
Again, no one can control what the State does on behalf of the people, but you will increase your odds at achieving a favorable outcome if you have an experienced criminal defense attorney and your son has an effective victim's rights advocate who are working in tandem at pursuing your joint agenda.
Although I practice primarily in Miami-Dade County you are welcome to contact my office for a referral or two, or you can search do a location search here on Avvo or you can search the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers website by locality (please see http://www.facdl.org/ - and click on the "Find A Lawyer" tab).
Either way, best of luck!
First, second and third: No attorney-client relationship exists by virtue of any Q&A with Michael A. Haber, Esq. on Avvo. Fourth: Anything that you post on Avvo (or on similar sites) or on any social media is by its nature public. It is essentially an admission / confession and can be introduced into evidence as a statement against your interest in a subsequent legal proceeding. Once posted you lose any reasonable expectation of privacy, so, as this is an open forum (with no privilege attached), please be extra careful when considering what to post online (forewarned is forearmed.)
At Michael A. Haber, P.A. the goals in representing folks are A) to be honest and realistic about litigation objectives; B) to be fair in regard to fees; C) to be consistently available and responsive to the client (in person, by phone call, text, email, Facebook. Twitter and otherwise); D) to keep the client informed; and E) to secure your positive feedback / client review at the conclusion of each case.
At Michael A. Haber, P.A. "Its all about reasonable doubt"!
Michael A. Haber, Esq. is prepared to speak with you about your case!
THIS BLOG POST (AS ARE ALL #HABERPA BLOG POSTS) IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT WHICH IS PRIMARILY DESIGNED, BY WAY OF REAL WORLD EXAMPLE, TO ASSIST THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN AVOIDING CONDUCT WHICH COULD FORESEEABLY RESULT IN ARREST AND PROSECUTION!
