Character witnesses can play a pivotal role in domestic violence trials, offering testimony that speaks to the defendant’s moral character, behavior and reputation in the community. As our Broward domestic violence defense lawyers can explain, these insights serve to provide the court with a broader perspective of who the defendant…
A new Florida statute going into effect Oct. 1, 2024 will make it easier for law enforcement officers to verify whether you’re in violation of a Fort Lauderdale domestic violence restraining order. The new law allows recipients of Florida protection orders to carry a single, wallet-sized card, called “Hope Cards,”…
Fort Lauderdale domestic violence arrests are among the more common Broward County criminal offenses. In a single recent year, there were more than 5,600 reported allegations of domestic violence in Broward – with 450 each from Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood Police Departments, according to FDLE. But an allegation doesn’t equal…
When it comes to Fort Lauderdale domestic violence offenses, there is not a single charge that encompasses all. Domestic violence incidents are not a monolith. Neither are the potential criminal charges they carry. As a longtime Broward domestic violence defense lawyer, I can explain in a bit more detail the…
If you are arrested for domestic violence in Fort Lauderdale, you may also soon be served with a domestic violence injunction. We understand that you may not want anything to do with that person anymore anyway. You’ll gladly stay away – so why bother fighting back? If you are the…
A new rule for Florida domestic violence investigations requires police responding to such calls to ask a dozen mandatory questions. New Mandatory Florida Domestic Violence Questions If police in Florida (including Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties) are called to the scene of a suspected domestic violence incident, they are…
For those arrested for domestic violence in Fort Lauderdale, one of the first questions is, “How much jail time will I get?” As Broward domestic violence lawyers, it’s impossible to say for certain without examining the specifics of your case, but what we can say is this: You will probably…
South Florida criminal defense attorney Richard Ansara was recently interviewed by the South Florida Sun Sentinel for an article about a proposed Florida bill that would increase the severity of stalking offenses involving the unauthorized use of wireless tracking devices. As a criminal defense lawyer representing South Florida clients accused…
When it comes to criminal allegations, judges are generally reluctant to allow consideration of a defendant’s “prior bad acts.” The reasoning here is pretty straightforward: Providing proof of previous misconduct has the potential to poison juror perception of the defendant, leading to potentially unfair outcomes. The fear is that a…
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide whether to uphold a federal law that prohibits individuals subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing firearms. The case is U.S. v. Rahimi, and it involves a Texas man accused of striking his girlfriend during an argument and later threatening…