Any criminal attorney in central Florida will tell you that domestic violence is a prevalent and serious problem that needs to be curbed. Under Florida law, domestic violence is defined as “any assault, battery, sexual assault, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another who is or was residing in the same single dwelling unit.”

Unfortunately, abuse of the domestic violence statutes built into Florida law is just as prevalent because it is such a politically charged subject. Specially trained prosecutors aggressively attack anyone accused of domestic violence, and even if the victim changes his or her mind, they can’t drop the charges – the prosecution has to do it themselves.

Because domestic violence isn’t a law itself, but rather a label added to other laws like assault or battery, charges of domestic violence mean that you will receive whatever penalties were already there for the actual law as well as additional conditions for the act of domestic violence. So if you assault someone and get 9 months in jail, you might also have to complete a 26-week Batterer’s Intervention Program on top of it.

Other domestic violence “conditions” include:

• 5 days minimum mandatory jail time
• the conviction can never be sealed or expunged from your criminal record
• you give up your right to have a gun while on probation
• your concealed weapons permit will be revoked.

If you or a loved one is charged with domestic violence, get an experienced Orlando criminal lawyer. Statistics show that those who hire legal representation immediately after their domestic violence arrest have far better results than people who think it will blow over or their family member will have a change of heart – which, if you remember correctly, doesn’t matter in Florida because only the prosecution can dismiss domestic violence charges!

A skilled central Florida criminal attorney will guide you through a plan that will not only get the case dismissed, but strengthen the relationship between you and your accuser. This may include things such as setting up counseling for you that will begin after the case is resolved, reaching out to the accuser to set things right and attempt to expedite the case’s dismissal, and going over the actions of the responding officer(s) to make sure proper procedure has been followed. Any and all of these things could help to win your case or get it dismissed.