Domestic Violence

Domestic violence offenses can often include allegations of assault, battery, kidnapping, false imprisonment and/or stalking. Typically the parties involved are members of the same household, meaning they are spouses, former spouses, related by blood or otherwise living together as a family unit. Both federal and Florida law include heavy fines and severe criminal penalties, including possible mandatory/minimum sentences of up to 25 years and maximum potential sentences of up to life.

Mr. Petruzzi has represented numerous individuals charged with, or under investigation for, domestic violence offenses by both federal and state authorities. His experience and knowledge serve as an invaluable asset to his clients.

Federal domestic violence offenses are investigated and prosecuted by various agencies, including the FBI, Secret Service and the Department of Justice. Some common federal statutes criminalizing domestic violence include:

18 USC Sec. 2261 –

(a) Offenses. –

(1) Travel or conduct of offender — A person who travels in interstate or foreign commerce or enters or leaves Indian country or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States with the intent to kill, injure, harass or intimidate a spouse, intimate partner or dating partner, and who, in the course of or as a result of such travel, commits or attempts to commit a crime of violence against that spouse, intimate partner or dating partner, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

(2) Causing travel of victim — A person who causes a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner to travel in interstate or foreign commerce or to enter or leave Indian country by force, coercion, duress or fraud, and who, in the course of, as a result of, or to facilitate such conduct or travel, commits or attempts to commit a crime of violence against that
spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

(b) Penalties. — A person who violates this section or section 2261A shall be fined under this title, imprisoned –

(1) for life or any term of years, if death of the victim results;

(2) for not more than 20 years if permanent disfigurement or life-threatening bodily injury to the victim results;

(3) for not more than 10 years, if serious bodily injury to the victim results or if the offender uses a dangerous weapon during the offense;

(4) as provided for the applicable conduct under chapter 109A if the offense would constitute an offense under chapter 109A (without regard to whether the offense was committed in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a federal prison); and

(5) for not more than five years, in any other case, or both fined and imprisoned.

(6) Whoever commits the crime of stalking in violation of a temporary or permanent civil or criminal injunction, restraining order, no-contact order, or another order described in section 2266 of title 18, United States Code, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year.

Florida domestic violence offenses are investigated and prosecuted by various state and local law enforcement agencies. Some common Florida statutes criminalizing domestic violence include:

741.28 Domestic violence; definitions.—

As used in ss. 741.28–741.31.

(2) “Domestic violence” means any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another family or household member.

741.283 Minimum term of imprisonment for domestic violence.—

If a person is adjudicated guilty of a crime of domestic violence, as defined in s. 741.28, and the person has intentionally caused bodily harm to another person, the court shall order the person to serve a minimum of five days in the county jail as part of the sentence imposed, unless the court sentences the person to a nonsuspended period of incarceration in a state correctional facility. This section does not preclude the court from sentencing.