Criminal Defense: Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence

A physical assault by one-half of a couple against the other party is called “Domestic Violence”. The couple may be married, not married but living together, divorced, same sex, or two parents who have broken up but have a child together for the laws relating to domestic violence to apply. Domestic violence crimes can be misdemeanors all the way up to attempted murder. Domestic violence cases are different from other assault cases. In a divorce or breakup situation, one person may be vindictive or files a police report to get an advantage with divorce court. Other times, one of the partners gets scared during an argument and calls 911 when the other party did not mean any harm at all to his/her partner. In a domestic violence case, the complaining party, your partner, is often quite willing to talk to the defense attorney, and wants to get the defendant out of trouble. Very often, the person who called the police regrets it, and asks the police or DA not to file charges. Unfortunately, this request is not usually honored in Santa Clara County. It can be difficult to “take back” what was said in anger to a police officer.

Even misdemeanor domestic violence cases are treated very seriously in California. If you are convicted of domestic violence, in addition to a jail sentence, there is often mandatory community service, always three years formal probation, a 52 week class, and some sort of restraining order which is filed with the court. In domestic violence cases, sometimes the “victim” does not wish to prosecute. In this situation, there may be certain evidentiary privileges that can be applied. These privileges are never pointed out by the prosecutor. If the victim wishes to learn about their rights in the prosecution, he/she needs to seek legal advice, separate from the attorney who represents the defendant.

If you are charged with domestic violence or if you are concerned about a domestic violence charged against your partner, you should always seek experience legal counsel. In addition to the mandatory punishment already listed here, a domestic violence may cause employers not to hire you. The conviction can also be used in family/divorce court to interfere with joint custody, and unsupervised visitation with the children. Formal probation is often very difficult because of the long 52 week program and because it changes normal family dynamics. A new argument with your spouse, even if it is not physical, can result in a probation violation or restraining order violation and months, not days, in jail.

The duties of police officers to respond to 911 calls for domestic violence or domestic abuse is no longer up to the officers' discretion. For many years, the officers have had a duty in California to respond to these calls as high priority. That means, as many people have found out the hard way--if you call 911 out of anger or to get your partner to "behave", the police WILL be out, even if you hang up the phone, or tell the 911 operator everything is fine now--the police will come to the home! The California Penal code has even required that police must determine thee "dominant aggressor"--figure out who started the fight, and who should be arrested based on what they see and hear once police respond. Most people do not think this through in the heat of a domestic argument and end up paying a bail bondsman, having a court fight that puts further strain on the relationship, taking expensive and time-consuming classes, going to jail, and having a criminal record.

Sometimes immigrants who are not from the United States expect the police in California will act as the police do in their home country where the police may step in only in serious cases where someone has been injured, and even then do not necessarilymake an arrest. The husband or wife who has called the police only to get the spouse to behave, or to have the spouse taken to a hotel to sleep elsewhere for the night is shocked when police arrest the spouse, and the job and immigration status of the spouse is now at risk!

No one charged with a domestic violence crime is released from jail without paying bail. This results in some people pleading guilty just to get out of jail so they will not lose their jobs! If that person is unable to complete the 52 week program, he or she ends up back in jail, and the family loses its breadwinner.

San Jose Criminal Defense Attorney Maureen Baldwin has successfully handled many domestic violence cases, whether that involved having a charge dismissed, reduced, or taking it to jury trial. Because most people are or have been in romantic relationships, and all relationships have difficulties from time to time, an arrest for domestic violence can happen to anyone. Whether you live in the mansion on the hill or subsidized housing, you or your partner are often only one 911 phone call away from a domestic violence charge. Depending on the fact, San Jose Criminal Defense Attorney Maureen Baldwin has worked to bring all the facts to the table, sometimes keeping the domestic violence charge from being filed by the prosecutor by giving him information he did not receive from the police. The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office processes many domestic violence cases, and usually files them shortly after the arrest, with only the bare facts in the police report. This means that the prosecutor often does not know all the facts when the case is filed. Sometimes a simple photo of the defendant’s injuries or statements not taken by the police but reported to 911 can be the difference between a charge being filed or not. You can trust San Jose Criminal Defense Attorney Maureen Baldwin to use her years of experience to tailor a defense to the needs of your specific case.

For more information on Domestic Violence charges and defense please contact San Jose Domestic Violence Attorney Maureen F. Baldwin today.