The Three Stages of an Assault Arrest
Ordinary assault, which is a first-degree misdemeanor in Florida, is the most common assault charge in the Sunshine State. Typically, arrests are quick and clean matters. Officers witness crimes and officers make arrests. Ordinary assault is different. Officers usually don’t need arrest warrants in these situations. But they must follow all three steps of the arrest process. More on that below.
The multiple arrest stages make it much easier for a Tampa assault & battery lawyer to successfully resolve these cases. An arrest is illegal if it doesn’t cover all three bases. Arrest complexity hints at trial complexity. Multiple witnesses must testify in court. Furthermore, the burden of proof at trial is beyond any reasonable doubt. Officers frequently have sufficient evidence to make arrests, but they don’t have enough evidence to make these arrests hold up in court.
Response
Domestic or other disturbance calls often summon officers to assault scenes. If the alleged victim calls 9-1-1, the tip is usually reliable.
Nosy neighbor tips are a different story. Many neighbors have mixed motives, at best, when they call the police. Frequently, they don’t much care about the alleged victim’s safety, but they care a lot about getting the defendant in trouble.
Anonymous tips are likewise unreliable. Tipsters who don’t give their names aren’t willing to vouch for the information they provide. There’s no reason a judge should give that tip any additional weight.
Reliability is the key concept when it comes to tips, and reliability isn’t the same thing as accuracy. A blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut, but a blind squirrel is unreliable.
Location
Especially in some areas of Tampa Bay, police aren’t known for their fast response times. By the time they arrive, the defendant has usually left the scene. In many cases, the alleged victim has left as well.
If police officers must track down the defendant, several issues arise. If the defendant seeks refuge in a house or other building, police officers may need search warrants to enter those structures. The hot pursuit search warrant exception may apply in a few cases.
Additionally, in most cases, police officers only have a vague description of the defendant (medium height, medium build, etc.). The reliability/accuracy issue arises in these situations. The police may very well nab the correct defendant, but if the initial identification was unreliable, the arrest won’t hold up in court.
Investigation
Finally, before they make an arrest, officers must investigate to determine “who started it.” These investigations must be prompt, thorough, and transparent. Furthermore, the arrest or other end result must be based solely on the evidence obtained in that investigation.
Prompt investigations usually aren’t an issue in these cases. Thorough ones are a different story. Especially in domestic battery cases, officers often zero in on a particular suspect, focus on evidence that implicates that suspect, and ignore other proof. These issues also affect final results in many cases.
Biased investigations that produced biased results make an assault case much easier to defend. Successful resolutions in these matters include a plea to a lesser included offense, a reduced sentence, and a not-guilty verdict at trial.
Reach Out to a Dedicated Hillsborough County Attorney
A criminal charge is not the same thing as a criminal conviction. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Tampa, contact the OA Law Firm. Convenient payment plans are available.
Source:
fdle.state.fl.us/CJAB/UCR/Annual-Reports/UCR-Offense-Data
