Felony Battery - Florida Statutes 784.041(1) | West Palm Beach Criminal Lawyer

Are you being charged, in Palm Beach County, Florida, with Felony Battery? We are Felony Battery attorneys located in West Palm Beach. When you are arrested for Felony Battery you want a lawyer that understands and practices in this area of law. Don’t hire a lawyer that dabbles in criminal defense, hire a criminal defense attorney that has extensive experience in Felony Battery cases. Your attorney needs to have knowledge and experience but also needs to know the players. Knowing the players comes from years of being inside the courtroom. Finding the best criminal defense attorney in Palm Beach County, for your case, is difficult. You need to review their educational background, experience in criminal cases, their reputation in the community, and their ability to communicate with you, the client. The quality of the criminal defense attorney you hire to defend your Felony Battery case is extremely important. We ask that you consider our South Florida Criminal Defense Attorneys.

Battery is the unlawful intentionally touching or hitting of a person against their will. Florida has different types of battery depending on multiple factors. Felony battery is a more serious form of battery. The way to tell the difference between simple battery and felony battery is by the degree of injury the victim experienced.

Imagine two people arguing. One is a 250 pound “hulk” of a football player while the other person is a skinny 120 pound person who just reads books all day. If that football player were to simply touch the little man, the football player would be committing a simple misdemeanor battery. If the football player punched the little guy, the little guy would go flying across the room and land on the ground with a broken nose, jaw, or face. The football player does not have to intend to seriously injure the little guy, but the football player only needs to cause the serious injury; however, if the football player punched the little guy to intentionally cause serious injury to him, then the football player went beyond a third-degree felony battery and committed an aggravated battery which is a second-degree felony.

For a defendant to be convicted of felony battery under Florida Statute 784.041, the prosecutor must prove:

1. The defendant actually and intentionally touched or hit the victim against the will of the victim; and
2. The defendant caused great physical injury, lasting disability, or permanent mutilation.

If you have been arrested for simple battery, the state prosecutor is going to be choosing what charges are going to be filed against you. There are some situations where simple battery cases can be sometimes changed into a felony battery charge as the prosecutor finds out more facts. The prosecutors normally call the victims of battery cases and talk to them about the facts of the case. If the prosecutor is informed that the victim was seriously injured, the prosecutor might change the charge to the serious felony battery charge.

There are some defenses available to defendants charged with felony battery. The defendant might not have been attacking the victim but defending himself from the attacks of the “victim.”

If the situation was chaotic because there was a bar-fight or brawl, it might be hard to tell if the defendant was the one who broke the victim’s face or if it was another big individual in the fight.

Felony battery is a serious charge and is a third-degree felony which has a maximum punishment of 5 year in prison and a $5,000 fine. Simple battery is punished by a maximum of 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine. It is a serious thing to have a simple battery charge changed into a felony battery charge. (5 years in prison vs. 1 year in jail)

If you have been arrested and charged with felony battery in the South Florida area, the attorneys at The Law Office of Roger P. Foley, P.A. are available to help you. Our firm focuses on criminal matters and has previously handled many battery cases.