Repeat Violence Injunction in Florida
There are various injunctions that can be filed against someone who attempts to, or succeeds in harming you in the state of Florida. These injunctions are intended to protect you and your family from violence of various kinds. Repeat violence is one of the various kinds of violent actions that are forbidden under Florida law. Anyone who has subjected you or a minor in your care to repeat violence can be prevented from interacting with you or contacting you via an injunction.
The St. Petersburg family law lawyers at Lopez Law has years of experience in defending victims from repeat violence. If someone has harmed you or has attempted to harm you repeatedly, you deserve representation that will allow you to get the legal protection you need. Your safety and the safety of your family are of the utmost importance to us, and we will work hard to protect your rights when we are retained for a repeat violence injunction case.
What is the Legal Definition of Repeat Violence in Florida?
- Aggravated Assault
- Aggravated Battery
- Aggravated Stalking
- Any Criminal Offense Resulting in Physical Injury or Death
- Assault
- Battery
- False Imprisonment
- Kidnapping
- Sexual Assault
- Sexual Battery
- Stalking
Those who are under 18 years of age will have to have a parent or legal guardian involved in their case. Typically, the guardian of the child who resides with them will serve as the person who advocates for them during the case.
When a minor is the victim of repeat violence, the legal guardian needs to have been witness to the event or to evidence of the event. Affidavits from eyewitnesses can also be used in place of eyewitness testimony from the legal guardian of the child involved in the case.
If the child has been abused by a member of the family, a repeat violence injunction will not be used. In these cases, you would file an injunction for protection against domestic violence instead. There are unique injunctions for many kinds of assault and violence cases that take into consideration things like co-parenting with someone who has caused the violence in question or in instances where the person who caused the violence is someone that a person is dating. Asking for the right kind of injunction is essential, and a skilled legal team can provide this advice to help guide the process of seeking legal protection from an abuser.
What Does An Injunction Do?
An injunction offers the victim of violence the ability to ensure that the person who has harmed them or who has attempted to harm them from being able to get in contact with them again. There are specific limitations related to injunctions, which can also be tailored by the judge to meet the considerations of your specific situation. The most common limitations related to injunctions granted in the state of Florida are the following:
Prevents Contact With the Person
An injunction will prevent the person who has tried to harm you or who has harmed you from being able to come into contact with you. This might mean that they are not allowed to go to specific locations on specific days, and often, it prevents the person from coming to your home address or place of work. When a child is involved, the person who has attempted to harm them would not be allowed to come to locations like their school, home, or places where they play sports, for example.
Preventing contact with the perpetrator is essential to ensuring the safety of victims. There are many ways that the abuser can be prevented from coming into contact with someone they have attempted to harm or had harmed. This will often include electronic contact as well, such as email or texting. Contact is often not allowed under any circumstances, and instances of outreach from the person who has tried to harm you allow you to reach out to law enforcement for protection.
Prevents Owning and Using Weapons and Firearms
Most injunctions will state that the abuser cannot own firearms or use them during the period that the injunction is active. Most injunctions do not have a set end date, which means that these people will not be allowed to own firearms or use them for the foreseeable future. Preventing the person who has done you harm from having access to weapons is a key aspect of maintaining your safety. This is a common feature of most injunctions, and you can expect this to be a part of the injunction order that is created for your repeat violence case.
Limits Other Specific Instances of Contact
In some cases, there are special instances where contact between a victim and an aggressor might be possible. These will usually also be included in the order that is handed down from the judge. Because these kinds of legal orders can be customized to meet your unique situation, you will want to be sure that you express all of your concerns to your legal team. An experienced legal team like the one at Lopez Law will be able to help you secure all of the various protections that are essential for you and your loved ones to prevent future acts of repeat violence.
What if my Aggressor Disregards the Injunction?
In a perfect world, an aggressor or someone who has threatened your health or safety will respect the injunction against them and cease bothering and threatening you. However, there are instances where aggressors will disregard the injunction against them. In these cases, the injunction allows the court and law enforcement to take more direct action against your aggressor. Increased legal penalties, such as jail time, can be enforced against those who disregard injunctions forbidding them from having contact with a victim.
While it might be scary to place an injunction against someone who has tried to harm you, often, this is the only way to seek effective legal action to prevent them from harming you in the future. Your lawyer will be able to explain the possible repercussions that can affect someone who disregards a legal order so that you understand the process of enforcing your injunction.
Is a Repeat Violence Injunction Permanent?
Most injunctions are not created with a set end, as it is assumed that someone who has attempted to or succeeded in harming you in the past will continue to attempt to do so in the future. The only way that injunctions can be removed or modified is through the submission of a request by one of the parties to have the injunction reviewed. Often, there is no new evidence that would exonerate the person who attempted to or succeeded in harming you, which means that the injunction will remain in place for good.
Seeking a permanent injunction is critical to these kinds of cases. The team at Lopez Law will ensure that your case is correctly presented so that you can get the protection that you need for yourself and your family. Injunctions offer you the legal recourse to make sure that someone who wants to harm you can be prevented from doing so.
Working With a Skilled Legal Team Matters
When you have suffered repeat violence at the hands of an aggressor, you need to ensure that you secure a skilled and experienced legal team to help you to defend yourself. Repeat violence is not allowed under Florida law, and you should not have to suffer this kind of treatment without taking legal action.
The team at Lopez Law has years of experience working on these kinds of cases and can help you seek an effective and permanent injunction against your aggressor. We will take the time to gather all of the details of your case so that we can present this information to the judge who grants your injunction. Getting a complete and effective injunction in place is essential for your safety, and we take this charge very seriously.
Contact us today for a consultation with us. We are eager to protect you and your family from violence through the use of an injunction order.