Summary:
The client was at his home in Deerfield Beach when two of his neighbors came pounding on his door claiming that the client had been “talking sh**” about them. One of the neighbors then began physically attacking the client right outside his front door in the porch area. Sometime during the encounter, after the neighbor continues to refuse to leave the client’s front door, the client grabs a crowbar in self defense but never makes direct contact with either neighbor. After the physical altercation ensued, the client called 911 to explain how these men came to his home, threatened him, and assaulted him. However, it was our client that was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Luckily, the Rossen Law Firm team quickly worked to get the case dismissed pre-filing and no criminal charges resulted for the client.
Facts of the Case:
The case involves a 41-year-old man in Deerfield Beach, Florida who was confronted at his front door by two neighbors that were seeking to confront the client about whether he had been “talking sh**” about them. One of the neighbors, after yelling profusely at the client, started punching and hitting the client in the face right outside his front door, refusing to leave. The client grabbed a crowbar from his home in self-defense, but he never made direct contact with either neighbor during the altercation. Therefore, the client called 911 to report the two neighbors but instead the client was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Fortunately, the entire incident was caught on the client’s home surveillance camera.
Process and Result:
Susan Lawson was the lead attorney on this case. After retrieving the home surveillance footage and reviewing it, she was able to identify portions of the footage that revealed that it was the client that was physically assaulted and that he never made contact with the alleged victim with the crowbar he grabbed. She also reviewed the probable cause affidavit, which was missing key information about the nature of the altercation. Namely, it failed to mention that the neighbors were the ones who ambushed the client at his front door, that one neighbor had been punching and hitting the client in the face, and that the client never made direct contact with the neighbor using the crowbar.
Considering the concerns with this case and the lack of fault on the part of the client, Susan was able to resolve the case quickly with the state attorney’s office. She highlighted the issues with the case and explained the lack of information and clarity from the probable cause affidavit. The case never went past the pre-filing stage since Susan was able to get the case dropped before the state filed any formal charges against the client.
Final Result:
Thanks to the efficient, diligent work of Susan and the Rossen Law Firm team, the case was dropped by the state and no criminal charges resulted for the client.