Violent-felony cases move on two tracks at once: what the State can prove happened, and what the sentencing math does with it. An aggravated battery that scores victim-injury points, a robbery count that triggers a firearm minimum, a burglary upgraded because of who was home — the label on the charge often matters less than the enhancements riding on it. Defending these cases means fighting both tracks from the first week.
The charges we defend
Aggravated assault (§ 784.021) — a threat with a deadly weapon, or with intent to commit a felony. A third-degree felony, and one of the most overcharged offenses in Florida: road-rage standoffs, neighbor disputes, and "he reached toward his waistband" cases all get filed here. The elements are technical — an intentional, unlawful threat, apparent ability, and a well-founded fear in the alleged victim — and each one is a place the State's case can fail.
Aggravated battery (§ 784.045) — an intentional touch or strike that causes great bodily harm, involves a deadly weapon, or targets a pregnant victim. A second-degree felony where the "great bodily harm" finding does double damage: it elevates the charge and adds victim-injury points that raise the scoresheet floor by years. Medical records, causation, and the line between great and moderate harm are all litigable — and litigating them is sentencing defense as much as trial defense.
Robbery (§ 812.13) — taking by force or fear. Unarmed robbery is a second-degree felony; add a weapon and it climbs; add a firearm and it becomes a first-degree felony punishable by life, with 10-20-Life minimums attached. Identity, the force element (a purse-snatch is not automatically robbery), and what exactly was possessed are the recurring battlegrounds.
Burglary (§ 810.02) — entering a structure or conveyance with intent to commit an offense inside. Burglary of a dwelling is a second-degree felony even when empty; if anyone is inside, if a battery occurs, or if the accused is armed, exposure climbs as far as life. Consent to enter, the "intent at entry" element, and dwelling-versus-structure classification decide these cases far more often than fingerprints do.
Self-defense in Florida: immunity, not just argument
Florida gives self-defense two lives. It is a trial defense — and, since the Stand Your Ground framework, it is also a claim of pretrial immunity under § 776.032. That means a defendant who acted in lawful self-defense can move for an immunity hearing before trial, where — under current law — the State bears the burden of disproving self-defense by clear and convincing evidence. Win the hearing and the case is over; even losing it forces the State's witnesses under oath early and prices the risk into every later negotiation. In fight cases, mutual-combat cases, and defense-of-home cases, evaluating the immunity motion is step one, not an afterthought.
How these cases actually get defended
Florida is one of the few states that allows depositions in felony cases — the defense can put the alleged victim and every listed witness under oath before trial. In violent-felony files, where the State's case is usually one person's account plus injuries of contestable origin, that tool is decisive: stories locked early can't improve later, and inconsistencies become the cross-examination. Alongside depositions: scene evidence and video canvassing (doorbell and business cameras have quietly become the best defense witnesses in Orange County), medical-record analysis on causation and severity, and early scoresheet work — because a moderate-versus-severe injury classification is a two-year swing at sentencing.
One reality worth naming: in domestic-adjacent cases, alleged victims often recant or ask to drop charges. The State can — and frequently does — prosecute anyway. A recantation handled clumsily exposes the witness to consequences and hardens the prosecutor; handled correctly, through counsel, it becomes one input in a resolution strategy rather than the whole plan. And where a criminal charge shadows a divorce or custody case, the two must be defended as one problem: this firm handles the injunction side too, and what happens in one courtroom echoes in the other.
Common questions
Because the case belongs to the State of Florida, not the accuser. Prosecutors routinely proceed on the original statement, the 911 audio, photos, and responding-officer testimony even when the complaining witness recants. A recantation still matters — it guts the State's confidence in its proof — but it has to reach the prosecutor through proper channels, with the witness protected and counsel framing what it means for the case. Done wrong, it makes things worse for everyone involved.
Almost anything, depending on use: cars, bottles, pool cues, and dogs have all qualified — the test is whether the object was used or threatened in a way likely to cause death or great bodily harm. That elasticity cuts both ways. The State uses it to elevate ordinary altercations into aggravated charges; the defense attacks it by litigating how the object was actually used, which can knock a felony back to a misdemeanor battery or simple assault.
Touch. Assault is threat without contact — pointing, brandishing, lunging — while battery requires an actual strike or touch. The gap between them is enormous: a third-degree versus a second-degree felony, different scoresheet levels, and different enhancement exposure. Cases frequently get filed as the higher charge on thin contact evidence, which makes the medical records and any video the first place the defense looks.
It's a pretrial evidentiary hearing on a motion for immunity under § 776.032: witnesses testify, the judge finds facts, and — under the current statute — the State must overcome the self-defense claim by clear and convincing evidence. Victory ends the prosecution entirely. Even an unsuccessful motion forces the State's case into the open months before trial and often reshapes the plea posture. Whether to file one is a strategic call: it previews your defense too, so it belongs in cases where the self-defense evidence is strong on the record.
Not necessarily — this is where the scoresheet math matters. Many first-offense violent felonies without serious injury score at or below 44 points, where probation and withheld adjudication are lawful outcomes, and where diversion is sometimes available. The dangerous variables are injury points and weapon enhancements, which can push a first offense over the line into mandatory-prison territory. That is exactly why the injury classification and the charge level get fought so hard, so early.
Usually better than the alternative — memory shaped by anger. Video fixes the sequence: who advanced, who retreated, what hands held, how long the encounter lasted. Self-defense claims in particular live or die on sequence. The urgent part is preservation: doorbell and business-system footage overwrites in days, so the defense sends preservation letters in week one, not month three. If video exists, tell your lawyer at the first call.
Charged after a fight, a threat, or a break-in allegation? The enhancements are the case — fight them early.
Call (407) 749-1034 — phones answered around the clock — or request a confidential consultation.
Related
Criminal Defense at Mack Law
A felony-only practice: how we work, what we defend, and why the first 72 hours matter.
Firearms & 10-20-Life
When a gun turns a violent charge into a mandatory-minimum case — and when it doesn't.
The Felony Scoresheet
Injury points, the 44-point line, and the formula that sets the sentencing floor.
The Felony Process
Arrest to resolution in Orange County — the timeline, the hearings, and the decision points.
General information about Florida law — not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Offenses referenced: §§ 784.021, 784.045, 812.13, 810.02; self-defense immunity under § 776.032; sentencing under §§ 921.0024–921.0026, Florida Statutes (verified July 2026). Every case depends on its facts; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.