What Factors Hurt a Domestic Violence Case?
If alcohol or drugs have become a problem in the person’s life, and they believe that after the arrest they should seek help by going to AA meetings, out-patient treatment, or residential treatment, it might not always help the criminal case, but it would definitely not hurt the case in any way to seek those facilities and get help. It would not make the person look any worse and it could be the help they need for their own health and their relationships.
Alcohol Or Drug Related
About half of all domestic violence cases are alcohol or drug related, particularly alcohol. Often times when couples are drinking, and typically both parties would be drinking, things tend to get out of hand, things get heated and the police can get called, which might lead to arrests being made.
Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs would not be an excuse for any type of behavior on the part of either party, so although drugs and alcohol would be a factor in, it would not make the case harder or easier to defend.
Making Your Situation Worse
Not obeying a restraining order would definitely make the case worse. Threatening the victim or any witness in the case would also make it worse. Trying to dissuade someone from trying to participate in the court process would make it worse, and in some instances, the person’s own statements to the police could also make it worse.
False Domestic Violence Accusations
Unfortunately, there are a lot of false or exaggerated allegations of domestic violence and sadly those allegations are mostly made by women who try to manipulate the system knowing that if they contacted the police and made an allegation, then the other party could be taken out of the home, arrested and charged.
False Accusations
I have never seen anyone being prosecuted for making a false allegation.
Even if allegations are later found to be untrue or the accuser recants, the accused may still have a restraining order placed against them. It would take time to undo those restraining orders and restore the person’s right to get their firearms back if they were taken. The arrest would be known even if no criminal charges were filed or if they were later dismissed so the stigma of that type of arrest would still linger with anybody who was aware of it.
Long Term Effects After Being Convicted?
Even a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction would be considered a crime of violence and it could be used against the person in all future criminal proceedings. It would be part of the public record so anybody who came to the court house and looked up the person’s record would be able to see that crime on their record. It would be on their rap sheet in background checks for employment and even possibly for housing or anything else that required a background check.
The domestic violence case could eventually be expunged, but the expungement would not restore the person’s right to own firearms or prevent the facts of the original case from being used against them in any future criminal proceedings.
Dropped Charges on Record
The fact that the person was arrested and booked into jail would always show on their background check because it would be a matter of public record. Whether or not they were used against the person in terms of any employment or whatever reason they were having their background checked can depend, but it would not just disappear off their record and the fact of the arrest and the booking would always be there.
Other Information about Domestic Violence
One of the most common things that people want to know is what to do if the alleged victim, their wife or their girlfriend, did not want to press charges or wanted to drop charges, so they want to know if they should call the DA and get the charges dropped.
The idea of pressing charges is actually a misnomer, because the alleged victim would not be the one pressing the charges; it would be the district attorneys’ office. Even if the alleged victim had decided they did not want to pursue criminal charges either because it was not true or because it was true and they did not want to see the consequences, the DA would still be able to press forward if they believed they had a case of domestic violence, even if it was against the wishes of the victim.
It would not be as easy as the alleged victim calling up the district attorney’s office and asking for the charges to get dropped because it just would not happen that way. They would be able to pursue the case even against the victim’s wishes because once the bell had been rung for making domestic violence allegations, it would be very hard to get the case dismissed. If someone called the police and made an allegation and somebody was arrested, then those allegations would not be able to be taken back.
Contact an Experienced Domestic Violence Attorney
For more information on a Domestic Violence Case, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (707) 636-3207 today.