Facts:
My client lives out of state and has an adult son living in Pinellas County. The son has a history of substance abuse and was pleading with his father for help. The father decided to fly to see his son and see if he could help. He stayed with his son at his house.
One evening during the trip, the two were watching Monday Night Football together. The father went outside to smoke. When he came back in, his son accused him of wandering around looking for drugs. Shocked, they started to argue. During the argument, the son fell to the ground and injured his knee.
The son called the police and the father was arrested for domestic battery.
The Case:
The father was released from the Pinellas County jail and permitted to go back home. He hired me from the airport and I got to work. We decided to put him into voluntary anger management. In the meantime, I spoke to the son and to the prosecutor about the case. There was a real issue about who instigated the incident. They both had been drinking at the time of the argument and there were no witnesses.
The Result:
The prosecutor ultimately did not believe that charging the father who had come to town to help his son with an addiction issue was the right thing to do. Since my client had already received counseling on how to handle issues between him and his son, there was no need for the courts to get involved. The prosecutor agreed to drop the domestic battery case.