Florida Domestic Violence Law is one of those legal areas where what you don't know can really hurt you. This helpful guide will tell you what to do, and what not to do if you or someone you love has been charged with Domestic Violence.
1
DO NOT CONTACT THE OTHER PARTY IF YOU HAVE A NO CONTACT ORDER!
An ALL CAPS headline is brutal, but I want this point to be crystal clear.
A 'No Contact' bond provision means that any contact - through a third party, e-mail, text message, voice mail, anything - will violate a 'No Contact' bond condition and send you right to jail. And as I have mentioned before, if you are in jail, it doesn't matter how you spell it.
2
How to Get a No Contact Order Lifted Safely
You will need a court order lifting the 'No Contact' condition of bail bond. Usually, this is done by asking the court to replace the 'No Contact' condition with a 'No Violent Contact' condition. There are two ways to do this: Motion or Stipulated Agreement with the State for what is called a 'Stipulated Order' changing bond conditions.
Sometimes, "victims" are told to go down to the State Attorney's Office to accomplish this - THIS IS A PATH TO FAILURE! The pressure placed on people in this situation is enormous and cannot be over emphasized.
Your attorney should have a time tested protocol for handling this facet of your case - a protocol that does not expose you to risk. We use a protocol that takes me, as legal counsel, completely out of the picture. Why? When I had a hearing several years ago, the ASA tried to get the witness to state that I had told her what to say. Her response? "I haven't even spoken to him until he called me to the stand."
The motion was granted.
3
Realize your limitations
You are probably not a criminal defense lawyer. Don't represent yourself or try to handle this aspect of the case on your own. If you do anything wrong, and the State is convinced that you have violated the No Contact order - even if the other party initiated contact - you will be the one sitting in jail waiting for a hearing and facing more charges.
And you won't care how jail is spelled while you are sitting there.
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