False accusations in domestic violence cases occur more often than people would expect. A false accusation can negatively impact someone’s reputation and their life. One of the biggest issues in domestic violence cases is that a lot of these cases involve mutual combat or self-defense. A person viewed as the alleged victim, many times, is the person that was the first aggressor or instigator.
Often, individuals get arrested for domestic violence for only acting in self-defense and they have defensive wounds or injuries, which is a potential defense against Ft Lauderdale domestic violence false accusations. That is why if you have been falsely accused of domestic violence, you should get in contact with a skilled Attorney who can work diligently to clear your name.
Role of Law Enforcement in Domestic Violence Cases
In a lot of cases, Law Enforcement is mainly concerned about building their case and establishing probable cause for arrest. They are not necessarily concerned with helping an arrestee or defendant in gathering evidence for what could be their later defense. A Police Officer would not like to be proven wrong that they made the wrong arrest. They are on the side of Law Enforcement and are going to do what they feel is necessary to help the Prosecutors build their case. A lot of times they fail to take photographs of the people they arrested that might show any type of injury or defensive wounds. That is one of the main things an individual can do to protect and as a defense against domestic violence false accusations in Ft Lauderdale.
Time and time again, Lawyers see cases where individuals call, for example, 911, and make allegations that they were allegedly a victim of domestic violence and Law Enforcement gets there only to find out that there is no physical evidence to substantiate that. Law Enforcement typically looks for any physical evidence that might be consistent with the individual’s claims. If an individual claims they were punched, struck, or scratched, they would look for any redness, abrasions, and scratch marks.
Reviewing the Police reports and all the evidence in the case and looking for inconsistencies is extremely helpful to Lawyers. Time and time again, Lawyers see allegations of individuals who claim to have been physically struck or harmed only to find that, based on the Police Officer’s investigation into the case, nothing was found to corroborate that claim. A lot of times, there is nothing to back up or to corroborate the accuser’s allegation.
Potential Consequences of a Domestic Violence Conviction
The potential restrictions or penalties regarding a person’s liberty are significant. Because an arrest for domestic violence is a criminal charge, an individual is taken into custody, given an arrest record, and if the case is prosecuted, subjected to further restrictions on their liberty, for example, probation. Peripheral consequences would be not having the ability to remove these types of cases from an individual’s record via a record sealing.
Domestic violence cases have impacts on divorce and custody cases. They can restrict an individual’s ability to reside in a family home or residence as well as restrict the ability to have contact with his or her children or other family members. In addition, they can impact an individual’s ownership, use, or possession of a firearm.
Employment-related issues are wide-ranging. Immigration issues are wide-ranging. A conviction also impacts an individual’s credit, ability to secure or obtain loans, and residential issues with respect to certain rental communities and homeowner’s associations.
Additionally, the overall stigma of a domestic violence charge is not insignificant. For example, it may be a heavily reported topic that is highly monitored by the media and highly monitored by employers.
These consequences are some of the reasons why it is so important to retain the services of a seasoned Lawyer in Ft Lauderdale, who can guide and advise you as you navigate the legal process of defending against domestic violence false accusations.
Gathering Evidence
If there are any prior threats via emails, text messages, or anything related to social media, the sooner that those can be memorialized, protected, and preserved, the better. If any of those items exist, those items should be printed or saved as soon as possible. Time is of the essence because there is always the possibility of somebody else getting those items and deleting them from the record, so the Defendant will not have an opportunity to use those in any possible defense moving forward.
Photographs, text messages, any receipts that might show any purchases of alcohol, and anything of that nature, again, including witnesses might be helpful. Witnesses should be sought after and spoken to sooner as opposed to later, whether they be people in and around the area at the time of the arrest, neighbors that might have heard anything that would aid in a defense in a domestic violence case, or any friends or family members that might have been around earlier that evening that might have been a witness to any type of behavior from the alleged victim in Ft Lauderdale that might help in any defense against domestic violence false accusations.
An Attorney Can Help Build a Defense Against Ft. Lauderdale Domestic Violence False Accusations
When crafting a defense against Ft Lauderdale domestic violence false accusations, a Lawyer should investigate whether or not there are any prior false allegations of abuse or domestic violence that might have been brought against the person. They would research court records to see how many times if at all, the individual has brought other charges of domestic violence or whether or not those charges have been successful.
Lawyers would investigate the case by means of gathering physical evidence, interviewing witnesses, and looking for inconsistencies with respect to an individual’s claim versus what the Law Enforcement Officer might have observed on the scene.
Anything that Lawyers could do to try to make the charges go away or reduce them is what they need to do in defending domestic violence as with any charges. Getting that information to the State Attorney’s Office is important so they can have an opportunity to look at it in an attempt to convince them not to file charges in a case like this. Call Leifert & Leifert today to discuss your defense options.
