Crimes of violence are the most vigorously litigated cases prosecuted due to the impact on personal victims and on society with the greatest liklihood of substantial jailor prison imposed. Don Hartery has extremely substantial experience in this regard, including numerous jury trials, drafting legislation, serving on the Governor's Task Force against Domestic and Sexual Violence, teaching thousands of law enforcement officers, prosecutors and victim's advocates on these issues for many years.

Don established the first few such divisions in Florida in Sarasota and Manatee County and supervised the litigation hundreds of thousands of these cases for over fifteen years. Many such crimes carry mandatory minimum jail or prison sanctions. Acts of Domestic Violence have mandatory sanctions that will last a lifetime andserve to enhance your future prosecutions, and may even limit your right to possess a firearm or ammunition, create a presumption of unfitness as a primary custodian over your children, and impact your career options. It is important that you retain a competent attorney in this field as soon as possible

Many such cases can be handled quickly without formal prosecution, according to policies that were implemented by Don Hartery at the State Attorneys office. If there is exculpatory (tending to show innocence) or mitigating (justifiable) evidence available, your attorney should thoroughly evaluate these matters before prosecution gets started, and make the decision, along with you, to present this information to the prosecutor very early in the matter to reach the best possible results in your defense.