Domestic Violence Lawyer

The best advice anyone can give you is to get the best domestic violence lawyer that you can afford.

Arrested for domestic violence?  Being investigated for domestic violence?  Don’t talk to the police and call a lawyer right away.  The police are not your friends.  Your only friend is your lawyer – your domestic violence lawyer!

When the police are called due to a domestic violence allegation, they almost always arrest the accused person. It is important that you do not give a statement to the police or anyone else until you have contacted a lawyer.

We have a unique understanding of how these cases are prosecuted, which helps us develop the best defenses available for clients facing domestic violence charges.

Contact us online or call us in Orlando at 407-344-4837 for a free consultation. We would be honored to fight for you.

If you are the victim of domestic violence, we also may be able to help.  Domestic violence is serious and help can be found in a private law firm like us, your local state attorney’s office or The National Domestic Violence Hotline.  You can also educate yourself on sites like Psychology Today.

What is Mutual Combat?

Mutual combat is a recognized defense to the crime of battery.  It is basically where two people “consent” to getting in a fight to see who wins.  The loser (often times the one who started the fight) will sometimes call the police and cry victim.  When that happens, it is very important to have witnesses who can testify as to what happened.  If it’s just the two of you who got into the fight, it’s not so easy.  Sometimes it is a race to the phone.  Whoever calls the police has the advantage.  Many attorneys would consider this an abuse of process when someone starts a fight, gets their butt kicked, and then calls the police claiming to be a victim.  If you find yourself in this situation, you may have an uphill battle.  But there are ways to defend against that.  Some of the important things you will want to get or preserve are:

1. Video evidence if there is any;
2. Witness names and contact information; and
3. Any physical evidence of the fight.

If you are in a fight that someone else started and you win, this is what I recommend.  Make a video on your cell phone!  Record yourself immediately after the fight explaining what just happened, saying that you were just attacked by a little punk and that you defended yourself.  If you are later confronted by the police, you can show them the video.  They will probably ask you, “Why didn’t you call the police?”  You can then reply because it was a fight, I defended myself and I won, and I didn’t think I needed to call the police.  You guys have more important things to do and I didn’t want to waste your time or the government’s resources on that little punk because he picked a fight with me.

The police will probably respect that, look at your video which will back up your story, and believe you!  When they go to the other guy to see if he has video, he probably won’t have any video or a good answer like you do, which will give you the upper hand.

Look, it may be safest to call the police if you get into a fight that you don’t start, regardless of how it turns out.  But most people don’t want to have voluntary contact with the police because people don’t trust the police!  And they don’t want to risk getting arrested.  If nothing else, you can just call 911 or the non-emergency recorded line for the local police and “beat” the other guy to the phone.  At least create a record that you called first and that YOU really are the victim – even if you won the fight.

I was angry with my partner and lied to the police, what now?

First, falsifying a police report is a crime and for that reason it is suggested that you talk to a domestic violence lawyer before doing anything else. It’s usually free after all!

While domestic violence is a serious matter, there are many cases in which a couple may have gotten lost in the heat of the argument and the police were called. Angry at your partner, you made a false claim against them, and lied to the police. Now your partner is facing domestic violence charges and the following may occur:

• he/she lost their job
• he/she now has a criminal record
• you most likely will need bail money
• you should hire a criminal defense attorney
• you will likely have to go out of pocket thousands of dollars

How do I get domestic violence charges dropped?

1. sign a declination of prosecution
2. contact a criminal defense attorney
3. consider hiring your own attorney

Domestic Violence Charges

Domestic violence involves an act or accusation of violence against a person’s spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend, or someone in the same household. In Florida, there are two main types of domestic violence charges:

• Battery: Battery is typically a first-degree misdemeanor resulting from an accusation of non-consensual contact with a person or intentionally causing bodily harm to a person. The charge can stem from a minor incident such as grabbing a person’s arm.

• Strangulation: Strangulation is a felony charge resulting from an accusation of choking or attempting to choke a person using hands.

A domestic violence arrest can often result in an injunction (restraining order). Even if your spouse or significant other wishes to drop the charges, the prosecution may still fight hard against you. At Fighter Law, we are domestic violence lawyers and we understand how extremely inconvenient and upsetting a domestic violence arrest is, as well as the intensive and costly Batterers Intervention Program (BIP) that is mandatory for many people convicted of domestic violence charges.

We know that your family and freedom are important to you, even if you are going through a divorce or other family law matter. We will negotiate with the prosecutors and aggressively work to have your charges reduced or dismissed. Don’t let a domestic violence charge affect your job, your custody of your children and other important areas of your life.

Offering Free Consultations

For strong advocacy and protection of your rights in central Florida, hire an Orlando domestic violence lawyer at the earliest possible stage. Call us at 407-574-7576 or send us an e-mail, and we will respond shortly.