Florida Domestic Violence Defenses: Definitions

Definitions are extremely important. How things are defined can determine how a case result is obtained - or not. Therefore, a quick video primer on Florida Domestic Violence Law definitions is extremely important.

Note: Florida Criminal Law contains numerous definitions and to cover all of them would take an eternity. So, only the basics are covered here.

One of my favorite examples definitional disaster involves "assault and battery" since the phrase is commonly misused, and gives the impression that they are one and the same. However, assault is not a battery and a battery is not an assault. The penalties alone are strikingly different, even in the context of a criminal misdemeanor: assault can result in sixty (60) days in jail; battery, up to a year. The simplest way to describe the difference is to liken assault with a swing and a miss, and battery as a swing that hits. This is grossly oversimplified, but gives a good mental visual of the difference between the two.