Florida prosecutors take allegations of violence between family members or domestic partners very seriously. A Wilton Manors man is finding this out the hard way as he faces domestic violence charges based on allegations he stabbed his boyfriend with a fork and bit his earlobe.
The 45-year-old defendant is accused of assaulting his 65-year-old partner after the two got into an argument. The dispute escalated, and the accused allegedly picked up a fork and stabbed the other man in the leg three times. During the altercation the accused also allegedly pulled on the other man’s ear, which he had bit a few days earlier. The alleged pulling caused the ear to start bleeding again.
A Broward County Judge ordered the man held on $25,000 bond, and ordered him to stay 500 feet away from any place frequented by the other man and not to contact him.
A domestic violence conviction can have serious consequences, including prison time. In addition, the alleged victim can have a temporary restraining order entered against the accused. A restraining order can prohibit the accused from seeing his or her children, or force them to move out of the home.
Unfortunately, false accusations of domestic violence are all too common in Florida. Sometimes a spouse or domestic partner will invent a story of domestic violence to get back at their partner. Sometimes a false accusation will arise out of an incident in which the alleged victim was really the aggressor, and the accused was acting in legitimate self-defense. These cases must be defended vigorously, because the long-term consequences of a false conviction can have a serious effect on the defendant’s future.
Source: Sun-Sentinal, “Man accused of biting, stabbing domestic partner,” Wayne K. Roustan and Erika Pesantes, Jan. 25, 2013
