If you have been arrested for violating an injunction, or charged with stalking, it often started with one call, one text, or one drive past a house. I defend these cases in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, and I also handle the injunction hearing itself. Call me for a free consultation at (813) 228-6001. Please do not contact the other person while we sort it out.
Florida has several kinds of injunctions
An injunction for protection is a civil order, but breaking it can be a crime. Florida has separate injunctions for domestic violence, stalking and cyberstalking, repeat violence, dating violence and sexual violence. Florida also enforces protection orders from other states. Which statute applies depends on which injunction was issued, and the penalties are not identical.
Violating a domestic violence injunction (Fla. Stat. 741.31)
You can be charged if you willfully violate the injunction by any of the following:
- Refusing to vacate a shared dwelling.
- Going to, or being within 500 feet of, the petitioner’s residence, school, place of employment, or a specified place the petitioner regularly frequents.
- Committing an act of domestic violence against the petitioner.
- Any other intentional unlawful threat, word or act to do violence to the petitioner.
- Calling, contacting or communicating with the petitioner directly or indirectly, unless the injunction specifically allows indirect contact through a third party.
- Knowingly and intentionally coming within 100 feet of the petitioner’s vehicle.
- Defacing or destroying the petitioner’s property.
- Refusing to surrender firearms or ammunition when the court orders it.
A violation is a first-degree misdemeanor. If you have one or more prior convictions for a domestic violence crime or an injunction violation, and you violate an injunction against the same victim, it is a third-degree felony. “Conviction” includes a plea or a trial result even if adjudication is withheld, so a withhold counts.
Two other points apply in a domestic violence case. Having any firearm or ammunition while a final injunction is in force is a separate first-degree misdemeanor under 790.233. And if the court finds a willful violation, it must order a batterers’ intervention program unless it makes written findings explaining why that would be inappropriate.
Violating a repeat, dating or sexual violence injunction (Fla. Stat. 784.047)
The list of violations is the same, minus the refusal to vacate a shared dwelling. A violation is a first-degree misdemeanor. It becomes a third-degree felony if you have two or more prior convictions for violating an injunction or foreign protection order and then violate one against the same victim. A withhold or a no contest plea counts as a conviction here too.
Violating a stalking or cyberstalking injunction (Fla. Stat. 784.0487)
The list of violations tracks the one above. A violation is a first-degree misdemeanor, and the felony enhancement requires two or more prior convictions. Having a firearm or ammunition while a final stalking injunction is in force is also a first-degree misdemeanor under 790.233.
Stalking and aggravated stalking (Fla. Stat. 784.048)
Stalking means willfully, maliciously and repeatedly following, harassing or cyberstalking another person. It is a first-degree misdemeanor. The statute defines “harass” as a course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose. A “course of conduct” is a pattern of acts over a period of time, however short, that shows a continuity of purpose, and it does not include constitutionally protected activity such as picketing or organized protests. Cyberstalking covers repeated electronic communication directed at a specific person, and accessing or trying to access someone’s online accounts or home electronic systems without permission, when it causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose.
Aggravated stalking is a third-degree felony. It applies when there is also a credible threat; when the conduct happens after an injunction under 741.30 or 784.046, or after any other court-imposed prohibition of conduct toward the person or their property; when the victim is under 16; or when the person was sentenced for certain sex offenses and prohibited from contacting the victim. A credible threat does not require proof that you intended to carry it out.
Aggravated stalking is on the Prison Releasee Reoffender list. If you are charged with it within three years of release from a state prison, or from a county jail after a prison sentence, and the state attorney seeks it, a third-degree felony carries a mandatory five-year sentence served at 100 percent. The state attorney has discretion over whether to seek it.
If you are convicted, the court must consider a no-contact order of up to 10 years, even if you are sentenced to jail or prison or placed on probation. Police can arrest for stalking without a warrant on probable cause.
Fighting the injunction itself
Most of my work in this area is on the respondent’s side, and I also do some petitioner work. See defending a domestic violence injunction. Once a petition is filed, the court sets a hearing at the earliest possible time. A temporary injunction can be granted without you being there, based only on the sworn petition, and it lasts up to 15 days. A full hearing follows. That hearing is where it is decided, and what happens there can follow you into a criminal case.
A domestic violence petition must be sworn under penalty of perjury and must disclose any other case pending between the parties. At the hearing the court weighs the allegations and all the relevant factors, including the history between the parties. I read every petition against the rest of the record, look at the timing of the allegations, and test them on cross-examination.
A final injunction stays in effect until it is modified or dissolved, and either side can ask the court to modify or dissolve it at any time. The court cannot issue mutual orders of protection.
What I look at in a criminal case
- Whether the conduct was willful, and for stalking, willful, malicious and repeated.
- What the injunction actually says: whether indirect contact was permitted, and which places and distances it names.
- Whether you were served before the alleged violation.
- Whether it is a course of conduct with a continuity of purpose, whether the other person suffered substantial emotional distress, and whether the conduct had a legitimate purpose.
- Whether the speech is constitutionally protected.
- Whether the alleged threat is a credible threat as the statute defines it.
If you are arrested
Under each of these injunction statutes, you are held in custody until you are brought before the court for bail. Do not talk to the police before you talk to me.
Do I have to give up my firearms?
Having a firearm or ammunition while a final domestic violence or stalking injunction is in force is a separate first-degree misdemeanor, and the court can order you to surrender them. If you have guns at home and have been served, call me before you do anything with them.
Sealing and expunction. A conviction for stalking or aggravated stalking cannot be sealed or expunged, even if adjudication was withheld. A charge that was never filed, was dismissed, or ended in acquittal is treated differently. See expungement and record sealing.
Common questions
Is the consultation free?
Yes. Call me at (813) 228-6001 and we can talk about the charge and what comes next. The consultation is free.
Should I talk to the police or the prosecutor before I call you?
No. Anything you say can be used in the case. It is easier to help you before a statement is made than after, so call me first.
What should I bring to the consultation?
Bring the injunction, any paperwork you were served with, any arrest or charging papers, and screenshots or call logs of any contact. Please do not delete anything. If you don’t have everything yet, call anyway and we will sort out what is missing.
Does a withhold count if I am charged again?
For the felony enhancements, yes. A plea or trial result counts as a conviction even if adjudication was withheld.
Where do you handle these cases?
In Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Past outcomes do not guarantee a similar result.
The law (short version): Fla. Stat. 741.30, 741.31, 784.046, 784.047, 784.048, 784.0485, 784.0487, 790.233, 775.082, 775.083.
The Law Office of Adam B. Landeen, PA
2511 W. Columbus Dr., Tampa, FL 33607
(813) 228-6001
Related: domestic violence, assault, battery, and probation violation.