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.
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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!
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!
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