By Attorney Howard Iken: For years, researchers working for the FBI and other organizations have noticed that there tends to be an increase in crime, including violent crime, as the weather gets hotter. At this point, no one can say exactly why. There’s a relationship between heat and aggression, and though we don’t know enough to say for sure that heat directly causes aggression, we can think of ways in which hotter weather and aggression may be linked.
With hotter weather, including balmy nights, more people are out of the house, going different places, mingling with strangers; the likelihood of violent altercations may then increase. There could also be a factor of irritability. If you’re stuck in a home with no air conditioning or in a hot car during a long commute, your temper might be much more on edge; the extra humidity and heat could be enough to fray nerves. There’s also the issue that in summertime, people might attempt more burglaries and robberies, such as sneaking through an open window to nab a T.V. or attempting to hold up a tourist for some cash; this could also lead to violent confrontations.
Regardless, if you find yourself in trouble with the law for a violent crime, you’ll need an expert criminal defense attorney. Your success or failure in your family law or custody case can depend on the outcome of criminal charges.
The law is complex, and there are plenty of situations where even someone who doesn’t intend to commit a crime gets charged with one. For instance, in Florida, even uttering a threat can count as an assault, if it seems likely that you could follow up on your words.
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There are a number of occasions when a verbal argument starts getting more heated and then gets out of hand; the intention to commit harm may not have been present from the start. A number of these situations may involve self-defense or the defense of others; for instance, an individual who wishes to break up an argument between two other people may get inadvertently caught up in it. The police may arrest all parties involved.
Your best bet is to try to avoid violent altercations to begin with and walk away to let tempers cool down. However, this isn’t always possible, and if you run afoul of the law, you’ll need an attorney who can carefully review the details of any given situation and offer you the best advice on how to proceed.