Aggressive Criminal Defense Attorney for Harassment & Obstruction Crimes in DeLand

If you have been charged with a harassment crime or an obstruction of justice crime in DeLand, Daytona Beach, Deltona, or other Volusia County area, contact the Law Office of Leanna J. Smith right away.

Our experienced and dedicated criminal defense attorneys will fight passionately in your defense, and may be able to help in lessening charges or seek to have the charges against you dropped altogether. If you’re in trouble, we want to help.

Harassment & Obstruction Crimes in Florida

Harassment

Harassment means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes substantial emotional distress to that person and serves no legitimate purpose.

False Imprisonment

Under Florida Statute 787.02, “False Imprisonment” is defined as forcibly threatening another person to confine, abduct, imprison, or restrain them against their will; or secretly confining, abducting, imprisoning, or restraining another person against their will without lawful authority.

Penalty: false imprisonment is considered a felony of the third degree, which is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and up to $5,000 in fines.

Kidnapping

Under Florida Statute 787.01, “Kidnapping” is defined as forcibly, secretly, or by threat confining, abducting, or imprisoning another person against their will without lawful authority to do so, and with the intent to:

• Hold for ransom or reward
• Hold as a shield or hostage
• Commit or facilitate commission of a felony
• Inflict bodily harm upon, or to terrorize
• Interfere with the normal performance of any government or political function.

Penalty: kidnapping is considered a felony of the first degree, which is punishable by a minimum of four years in prison, or up to life in prison, and up to $10,000 in fines.

Stalking

Under Florida Statute 784.048(2), “Stalking” is defined as a person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person.

Cyberstalking is defined as engaging in a course of conduct to communicate, or to cause to be communicated, words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic mail or electronic communication, directed at a specific person, causing substantial emotional distress to that person and serving no legitimate purpose.

Penalty: stalking is considered a misdemeanor of the first degree, which is punishable by up to one year in jail, up to $1,000 in fines, and a restraining order that can last up to 10 years.

Aggravated Stalking

Under Florida Statute 784.048, “Aggravated Stalking” occurs when one of the four following criterias are met:

• 784.048(3) A person willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyber stalks another person and makes a credible threat to that person; or
• 748.048(4) A person, after an injunction for protection against repeat violence, sexual violence, or dating violence, or an injunction for protection against domestic violence, or after any other court-imposed prohibition of conduct toward the subject person or that person’s property, knowingly, willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyber stalks another person; or
• 748.048(5) A person willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyber stalks a child under 16 years of age; or
• 748.048(7) A person, after having been sentenced for a violation of certain sex crimes and prohibited from contacting the victim of the offense, willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyber stalks the victim.

Credible Threat is defined in Florida Statute 784.048(1)(c) as either a verbal or nonverbal threat, or a combination of the two, including threats delivered by electronic communication or implied by a pattern of conduct, which places the person who is the target of the threat in reasonable fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family members or individuals closely associated with that person, and which is made with the apparent ability to carry out the threat to cause such harm.

Penalty: aggravated stalking is considered a felony of the third degree, which is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment and up to $5,000 in fines.

Obstruction

Accessory After the Fact

Under Florida Statute 777.03, “Accessory after the Fact” occurs when one of the three criteria is met:

• 777.03(1)(a) Any person not standing in the relation of husband or wife, parent or grandparent, child or grandchild, brother or sister who maintains or assists the principal or an accessory before the fact, or gives the offender any other aid, knowing that the offender had committed a crime and such crime was a third degree felony, or had been an accessory thereto before the fact, with the intent that the offender avoids or escapes detection, arrest, trial, or punishment; or
• 777.03(1)(b) Any person who maintains or assists the principal or accessory before the fact, or gives the offender any other aid, knowing that the offender had committed the offense of child abuse, neglect of a child, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child under 18 years of age, or murder of a child under 18 years of age, or had been an accessory thereto before the fact, with the intent that the offender avoids or escapes detection, arrest, trial, or punishment, unless the court finds that the person is a victim of domestic violence; or
• 777.03(1)(c) Any person who maintains or assists the principal or an accessory before the fact, or gives the offender any other aid, knowing that the offender had committed a crime and such crime was a capital, life, first degree, or second degree felony, or had been an accessory thereto before the fact, with the intent that the offender avoids or escapes detection, arrest, trial, or punishment.

Penalty: the penalty for accessory after the fact depends on the severity of the felony crime committed by the suspect who was maintained, assisted or aided by the accessory after the fact. Below are the punishments for accessory after the fact, if the original crime was a:

• Third Degree Felony: the penalty for accessory after the fact is considered a misdemeanor of the first degree or a felony of the third degree, depending on the offense level as follows:
• Third Degree Felony Level 1 & 2: the punishment for accessory after the fact is considered a misdemeanor of the first degree, which is punishable by up to one year in jail and up to $1,000 in fines.
• Third Degree Felony Level 3 or Higher: the punishment for accessory after the fact is considered a felony of the third degree, which is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and up to $5,000 in fines.
• Second Degree Felony: the punishment for accessory after the fact is considered a felony of the third degree, which is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and up to $5,000 in fines.
• First Degree Felony: the punishment for accessory after the fact is considered a felony of the second degree, which is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines.
• Life Felony: the punishment for accessory after the fact is considered a felony of the second degree, which is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines.
• Capital Felony: the punishment for accessory after the fact is considered a felony of the first degree, which is punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines.

Disobeying Lawful Order by Law Enforcement

Under Florida Statute 316.072(3), “Disobeying Lawful Order by Law Enforcement” is defined as willfully refusing or failing to comply with lawful order or direction given by a law enforcement officer, traffic crash investigation officer, traffic infraction enforcement officer or member of the fire department at the scene of a fire, rescue operation or other emergency.

Penalty: disobeying lawful order is considered a misdemeanor of the second degree, which is punishable by up to 60 days in jail and up to $500 in fines.

Tampering with Evidence

Under Florida Statute 918.13, “Tampering with Evidence” is defined as a person who alters, destroys, conceals, or removes any record, document, or thing during a criminal trial, proceeding, or investigation with the intent to impair its verity or availability in trial; or to make, present, or use any record, document, or thing knowing it to be false.

Penalty: tampering with evidence is considered a felony of the third degree, which is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and up to $5,000 in fines.

Tampering with a Witness

Under Florida Statute 914.22, “Tampering with or Harassing a Witness” is defined as a person who knowingly and intentionally uses intimidation or physical force, or threatens another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, or offers pecuniary benefit or gain to another person, with the intent to cause or induce any person to:

• Withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official investigation or official proceeding;
• Alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with intent to impair the integrity or availability of the object for use in an official investigation or official proceeding;
• Evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object in an official investigation or an official proceeding;
• Be absent from a official proceeding to which such person has been summoned by legal process;
• Hinder, delay, or prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer or judge of information relating to the commission of an offense or possible commission of an offense or a violation of condition of probation, parole, or release pending a judicial preceding; or
• Testify untruthfully in an official investigation or an official proceeding.

Penalty: the penalty for tampering with a witness depends upon the underlying crime that is being investigated. If the underlying crime was a:

• Misdemeanor: the penalty for tampering with a witness is considered a felony of the third degree, which is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and up to $5,000 in fines.
• Third Degree Felony: the penalty for tampering with a witness is considered a felony of the second degree, which is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines.
• Second Degree Felony: the penalty for tampering with a witness is considered a felony of the second degree, which is punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines.
• First Degree Felony: the penalty for tampering with a witness is considered a felony of the first degree, which is punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines.
• Capital or Life Felony: the penalty for tampering with a witness is considered a life felony, which is punishable by up to life imprisonment and up to $15,000 in fines.