What Are The Consequences Of Being Accused Of Domestic Violence?
A charge of domestic violence is maybe not as bad as a charge of sexual abuse or assault in terms of the stigma, but it is not great. When circumstances were exaggerated or false claims were made, just the arrest and charging process can be very detrimental to an individual’s job, along withthe perception within their family and friends.The cost to retain counsel, having to deal with court and having the specter of a potential conviction hanging over their heads all takes a toll on an individual dealing with a case like this. Through hard work in some of these cases, the defense counsel can disprove statements and accusations and either get significantly reduced charges or a case dismissed for lack of evidence. Those things require a lot of dedication and investigation.
Does The Involvement Of Drugs And Alcohol Make A Domestic Violence Case Harder To Defend?
This is a double-edged sword. Sometimes drugs and alcohol can explain behavior that otherwise would not be normal for that individual, but, depending on who the individual is, their age, their position and their experience in life, a prosecutor can also look at that as a negative and say the accused is too old and too experienced to use alcohol or drugs as an excuse for bad behavior. In the moment, one thing led to another, and these are choices that the client had the power to control at this point in their life. It is very dependent on what the situation is and who the individual is.
Why Is It Important To Retain An Experienced Attorney For Handling A Domestic Violence Case?
Much like any other area of the law, it is great to have a little experience in all areas, but there needs to be a focusand dedication to a certain type of case law.For the best outcome, you need someone familiar with the differences in the kinds of options, prosecutions and strategies in each and every one of the city courts and justice courts where the majority of these misdemeanor domestic violence cases are brought.There are certain presentations, filings and persuasive arguments to be made to certain prosecutors and prosecuting agencies, as well as certain material that can be gathered on behalf of the client to work towards the best resolution, depending on the jurisdiction area. Your attorney should be comfortable with defending domestic violence cases in almost every jurisdiction, including Superior Court for felony cases. They should be prepared to walk in and have a strategy ahead of time as to how best to sell a resolution.
Additional Information About Domestic Violence Charges In Arizona
One of the more serious cases in Arizona that I have handled, was both a domestic violence and a felony case, and it involved a high-profile, local celebrity in Phoenix.The defense team’s belief was that the charges were greatly exaggerated due to his position in the community and his financial means. It was no coincidence that he was also part of a potential divorce proceeding that was happening, and that case took six to seven months of extensive research of medical records while the individuals involved made accusations.It was a case where right from the beginning, there were significant bond and bail issues.
This case was an example of everything that a defense attorney does, regardless of whether it was a domestic violence case or not. This case amassed a couple of domestic violence felony charges, several misdemeanor charges, allegations against the clientby his soon-to-be-ex-wife and also allegations regarding their child in common.However, all of it was reduced to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct plea with short term probation as a result of the extensive research and work that were done to essentially combat the allegations made in the case and show the prosecutor that the alleged victim was not trustworthy at all.
The case essentially resulted in the county attorney giving a new statement on the issues, ultimately conceding that a minimal incident had mushroomedinto some ill-defined criminal activity then shrank down to disorderly conduct, which was essentially aloud argument that upset the neighbors. It was nothing like the original allegations that they had charged him with, and so, essentially, the county attorney said that they did not have a lot of faith and credibility in their victim, and that this was the appropriate resolution. It is a situation where you are going from felony charges with all kinds of potential consequences down to a misdemeanor.It shows just how important having a thorough and aggressive attorney with relationships in the criminal justice system can be, especially if the prosecutor is a former colleague of the defense counsel.
This relationship didn’t offer any special treatment but did allow a lot of access, conversations and dialogue with that individual. This was crucial and also played a role in establishing credibility since bothattorneys could talk abouttheir concerns, which they wound up both sharing.It became the perfect storm in terms of what an attorney can do for a client and helped when dealing with the added pressure of walking in and out of court at every hearing with everybody in the local news trying to get client statements and pictures. At this pointit is not really legal skills being put to work but personal skills and knowledge of the system that are in play to best protect the client and his concerns as you go through a case like this.
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