Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida
My fiance, Mike, was arrested yesterday on a domestic battery charge. He was arrested even though I did not want to press charges. The neighbors seen us fighting and called the police. He went to court and they have yet to set him a bond or release him. They will not give me any information. Currently, this is a First Degree Misd. but this is his 2nd offense. His trail date is in 3 weeks. We cannot afford and attorney, but what steps should I take and what steps should he take to get through all this.
1 Answer from Attorneys
FL takes domestic violence accusations seriously even if there was no violence. Either your neighbors are worried about you or they do not like him or both. You really cannot do anything. It is up to the State Attorneys Office (prosecutor). If you do no want to press charges because he did not attack or hurt you and he has never done so, and you really really really do not feel threatened or in danger, then when the state calls you to ask you questions you say I'm not pressing charges and that is all you say. Don't blab on, you might give them evidence--real or imaginary by what you say. You probably should not speak to them at all.
If the neighbors saw him touch you or attack you then the state will want to use them. If he really did not attack, hurt, touch, or threaten you, you can testify the opposite of the neighbors. He has to hire a public defender, or contact the county bar or Florida Bar and see if there is a attorney who will work for free. But that is your boyfriend's duty. So you have to have someone else contact your boyfriend for you because he probably has a no contact order: no phone calls, not anything.
If he gets out on bond, and comes around you, the neighbors will call the police on him again and he will be charged with a new crime. I hope you are not a victim and I am just giving you ideas of how to continue to be a victim. I have seen cases where there was no domestic violence, basically just bad neighbors or police with a bad attitude. Usually police departments have a policy that someone MUST be arrested when responding to a 911 call for domestic violence.
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