Domestic assault is an assault against a member of a family or a household, or a past or
current dating partner. Such an assault involves intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury to that person; intentionally or knowingly threatening the person with imminent bodily injury—or intentionally or knowingly causing physical contact with the person when the offender knows or reasonably should know that the victim will find such contact provocative or offensive.
If the defendant has no previous domestic assault convictions, such a crime usually is a misdemeanor, with punishments in the neighborhood of up to 1 year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000. For a defendant with a previous domestic assault conviction, the crime of domestic assault is more serious, with punishments of maybe 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
There are a couple of ways to avoid jail or prison for domestic assault. Chief among them are deferred prosecution and probation.
DEFERRED PROSECUTION
One alternative that’s often offered to first-time offenders is “deferred prosecution.” This may be granted when the defendant pleads guilty and the court postpones sentencing for a period of time.
During that time the defendant must comply with probation orders, must have no new arrests and must complete such requirements as finishing domestic violence offender treatment, doing volunteer work in the community or paying restitution.
Restitution involves paying a victim for any costs caused by the crime, such as medical or counseling expenses or the costs to repair or replace property which was damaged in the crime.
When those things are done successfully, the court can dismiss the case and discharge the defendant. However, the arrest, the deferred prosecution and the dismissal will remain on the defendant’s criminal record.
Failure to do these things means the court can enter a conviction and impose a sentence from among those noted above.
Deferred prosecution is not available as a sentencing alternative when the crime is aggravated domestic assault, which can be a first- or second-degree felony, or continuous violence against the family, which is a third-degree felony.
PROBATION
Another alternative to jail or prison when it comes to the crime of domestic assault is probation.
When a defendant pleads guilty or is convicted, the court can grant community supervision instead of imposing a jail or prison sentence. This can be for up to 2 years for a misdemeanor and up to 10 years for a felony.
The court may require a defendant to serve some jail or prison time before starting community supervision. Usually, that is 180 days for a felony and 30 days for a misdemeanor. Then, the community supervision or probation period begins.
If the defendant fails to comply with the community supervision conditions imposed by the court, he or she must return to jail or prison to complete the sentence.
Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.
For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.