Battery by a Detainee and Bodily-Fluid Battery in Miami

Dennis Gonzalez Jr. is a former Miami-Dade prosecutor who has been defending people since 2012. Our office answers 24 hours a day.

The Charges and the Penalties

Battery on a facility employee by fluids (s. 784.078). While detained in a facility, and intending to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm, causing or trying to cause an employee you know or should know works there to come into contact with blood, saliva, chewed or regurgitated food, seminal fluid, urine, or feces by throwing, tossing, or expelling it. Third-degree felony: up to 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

A "facility" includes prisons, county and city jails and other local detention facilities, and certain secure state facilities, including juvenile ones.

Assault or battery by a detainee on another detainee or a visitor (s. 784.082). The charge is raised one level:

• Assault: second-degree misdemeanor to first-degree misdemeanor.
• Battery: first-degree misdemeanor to third-degree felony.
• Aggravated assault: third-degree felony to second-degree felony (up to 15 years).
• Aggravated battery: second-degree felony to first-degree felony (up to 30 years).

Bodily-fluid battery on a child (s. 784.085). Knowingly causing or trying to cause a person under 18 to come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, or feces by throwing, tossing, projecting, or expelling it. Third-degree felony. This law does not apply when the person accused is also under 18.

What the State Must Prove

• 8.20, facility employee: you were detained in a facility; you caused or tried to cause the employee to contact one of the listed fluids or materials by throwing, tossing, or expelling it; you intended to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm; the person was a facility employee; and you knew or should have known it. See the elements.
• 8.21, detainee on detainee or visitor: you were detained in a prison, jail, or detention facility; you committed the assault or battery; and the other person was a detainee or visitor there. See the elements.
• 8.33, child: you knowingly caused or tried to cause the child to contact one of the listed fluids, by throwing, tossing, projecting, or expelling it, and the child was under 18. See the elements.

How We Defend These Charges

• Intent. The employee charge requires intent to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm. A cough, a sneeze, vomiting from illness or withdrawal, or saliva while shouting is not the same thing.
• Was it a "facility"? The statute lists the places it covers. Where it happened matters.
• Self-defense. Who started it matters.
• Video. Jails have cameras. We move to preserve footage early.
• Officers outside a facility. Battery on a police officer on the street is a different charge. See Assault & Battery Charges.

What to Do First

1. Don't discuss the incident on jail phones, tablets, or with other inmates. Those are recorded.
2. Write down witnesses, the time, and the place.
3. Family members: call us so we can request video and records before they are lost.

Why Choose Dennis Gonzalez Law, P.A.

• Former Miami-Dade prosecutor.
• Defending people since 2012.
• Super Lawyers recognition and an Avvo Rating of 10.0.
• Bilingual office — se habla español.
• We answer 24 hours a day. Call (305) 209-0384.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is spitting on a jail officer a felony in Florida?

It can be. Causing or trying to cause a facility employee to contact saliva or other listed fluids, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm, is a third-degree felony.

My son was in a fight with another inmate. Why is a simple battery a felony?

When a detainee commits battery on another detainee or a visitor, the law raises it from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony.

Will this affect bond on my original case?

It can. See Bond & Nebbia Hearings.