Cases of domestic violence and battery often involve strong emotions on all sides. Perpetrators must face justice if they are guilty, but often times, cases of domestic violence and battery might be exaggerated or entirely untrue altogether. Jeffrey Gorland, P.A., a Fort Pierce Battery Attorney, serves each client with professional and individualized services. Prosecutors often attempt to convict those accused of domestic violence or battery with little to no evidence; usually relying on the police report as the sole piece of evidence to argue the case. Considering that the police usually arrive after a disturbance has been made, the report can’t capture the moments before the police were called, and the evidence is therefor not one- hundred percent reliable. The officer on scene will assess the situation to his or her best judgment and write the report based on their observations and conclusions, not on what they actually saw and heard.There have been several cases where the accused were actually acting responsibly and were trying to prevent harm from coming to others. One example involves a husband who was attempting to prevent his wife from driving a vehicle while intoxicated. The wife became combative, and the husband was subsequently charged with battery after not allowing his wife to drive the vehicle while under the influence. When the police arrived, they made a quick and unsubstantiated decision to arrest the husband on a battery charge, while in reality, the husband was acting responsibly.

While cases of battery or domestic violence should be taken seriously, it’s important that the actual facts of the case are taken into account, rather than strong emotions and baseless claims. In some cases, incidents of battery are actually non-violent issues between people that can be resolved privately, without the need for judges and courts. The case of a student punching a teacher might be true, but the facts of what happened before, during, and after the conflict between the student and teacher need to be taken into consideration, and the teacher’s word should not just be taken as the absolute truth without getting the student’s perspective, as well as the accounts of other students and any other adults who might have witnessed the conflict.

If you or someone you know is in a similar legal situation, contact our firm at (772) 489-2200 or jgarland@treasurecoastlawer.com.