Injunctions

It can be challenging to be accused of domestic or sexual violence or stalking. You may face significant criminal charges that come with huge penalties. For sex crimes, you may be facing a requirement that you register as a sex offender after release from imprisonment. On top of the potential criminal penalties, you may also face a petition for a civil injunction. Sometimes a purported victim is motivated not by a need for protection but by a desire for revenge. Criminal penalties can be imposed for violations of civil injunctions. This means that you should fight them, if only to prevent opening the door to future criminal prosecution. If you are concerned about a purported victim's petition to seek an injunction against you, you should consult a Sarasota injunction lawyer. At Hanlon Law, we fight for the rights of the accused.

Injunctions available for purported victims of violence in Florida include those for stalking or cyberstalking, repeat violence, domestic violence, sexual violence, and dating violence. What must be shown for each type of injunction varies.

A victim of sexual violence or a parent of a minor who is an alleged victim and lives at home can ask the court for an injunction to prohibit sexual violence. This type of injunction requires the person seeking it to have reported the violence to the police and have cooperated in any related criminal proceeding. A parent or guardian can request this kind of injunction if you were imprisoned for perpetrating a sex crime against their child or them, and you are being released from prison within 90 days or have gotten out already. There is a wide range of acts considered sexual violence, including lewd or lascivious acts, sexual battery (rape), luring a child, sexual performance of a child, and any forcible sex crimes. An injunction attorney in Sarasota can further explain the scope of conduct covered by the law.

If somebody is a victim of domestic violence or has reasonable cause to think that they are in immediate danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence, they can ask for an injunction for protection against domestic violence. The petition is typically not made with notice to the alleged perpetrator. A judge can issue a temporary ex parte injunction without your presence. The order can last for up to 15 days and can order a wide range of things, including a requirement that you keep away from your kids, go to abuse counseling, and pay temporary child support to a spouse with temporary custody. However, a full hearing will be scheduled, and it is crucial to have a Sarasota criminal attorney for that hearing so that you can tell your side of the story as persuasively as possible.

Under Florida Statute section 784.048, stalking and cyberstalking are criminalized. You can be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor for stalking and sentenced to a year in jail or on probation and a $1,000 fine. Aggravated stalking is charged as a third-degree felony, for which you may face up to 5 years in prison. If someone claims that he or she has been a victim of stalking or cyberstalking by you, he or she may be able to get an injunction for protection against you, but a Sarasota injunction attorney can help you fight it. This type of injunction is available not only if the allegation is that you followed the victim in real life or online, but also if you threatened to injure the victim or people close to them, injured or killed a family pet, threatened to use weapons like knives or guns, were involved in criminal history that included violence or threats of violence, previously had a protection order issued against you, or wrecked personal property belonging to the petitioner. One point that is notable about this type of injunction is that if the petitioner claims that you failed to obey this injunction knowingly, repeatedly, and maliciously, you could face third-degree felony charges of aggravated stalking. Even if you did not go to prison for a first misdemeanor instance of stalking, you could be imprisoned for violating the injunction.

Dating violence injunctions may be obtained under section 784.046 by someone who claims to be at immediate risk of being a victim of a repeated or first instance of dating violence. A repeat violence injunction may be obtained if the alleged victim claims that you perpetrated two violent or stalking incidents against them, with at least one occurring within the 6 months before the petitioner files the petition.

Petitions for injunctions in Sarasota should be taken as seriously as criminal charges. If you violate an injunction, a criminal charge may be what you are facing. Our founder, Will Hanlon, has dedicated himself to protecting the accused since 1994. You can call Hanlon Law at 941.462.1789 or submit our online form.