Facing domestic violence charges can upend your life, even if the allegations are false. You could be arrested, face bail conditions that interrupt your life, and be slapped with a protection from abuse order that further limits you, all before the case against you is even proven.
Our lawyers work to protect your rights, get charges dropped and dismissed, and negotiate potential outcomes that could help you avoid jail time. We can challenge the case against you, be there during interrogations, and work to keep the police and prosecution from treating you unfairly in what could be a serious case.
Reach out to Kenny, Burns & McGill’s domestic violence defense attorneys at (215) 774-5644 to discuss your case.
What Happens After a Domestic Violence Arrest in Chester County?
After domestic violence is reported and the police come out to investigate, the following steps may occur:
Arrest and Potential Interrogation
Police can arrest you for domestic violence charges based on the report of the alleged victim, even if the officer did not witness the alleged crime. However, they must have evidence of injury, such as signs of strangulation, before they can make that arrest.
Once they arrest you, they might ask you questions. They must read you your Miranda rights, and you should demand a lawyer and activate your right to remain silent. Do not answer their questions until your domestic violence defense lawyer is present.
Guns May Be Seized
The police may be able to seize firearms used in the alleged offense. After certain steps, such as a protection from abuse order, your other firearms may also be seized.
Booking and Arraignment
When the police formally book you, they take your fingerprints and enroll you in their system.
At your arraignment, you will be told what the charges are and asked to enter a plea. You typically plead “not guilty” to continue your defense.
Bail Conditions
The court can set your bail and release you as long as you are not deemed a danger to the community or the alleged victim. However, they may put conditions on your release that make your life harder, such as these:
- No contact with the victim, even if they are your spouse or dating partner
- No returning to shared homes
- No returning to shared workplaces
- Check-ins with an officer
- And more.
Any violation can send you back to jail and potentially result in additional charges.
Emergency Protection from Abuse Order
The alleged victim may apply for an emergency protection from abuse order (PFA). PFAs can be handled in an ex-parte hearing, meaning it is only the applicant present. The defendant does not get a chance to defend themselves, and a temporary PFA can be granted.
Hearing on PFA
Emergency PFAs are only temporary. A final hearing must be scheduled within 10 days. At this hearing, you get a chance to defend yourself and end the PFA.
If a PFA is left in place, it may override or run alongside bail conditions and stay activated as long as your case or the continued risk to the alleged victim goes on.
Criminal Case Proceeds
Among all of these steps, your criminal case moves forward. You may face a preliminary hearing, and your case may be held over for trial. If it gets all the way to trial, we can defend you there; otherwise, you may enter into a plea deal or other alternative resolution before that.
Defenses to Domestic Abuse Charges
Some defenses can end the case entirely, while other evidence and claims we can bring up may challenge the case and help a jury find enough reasonable doubt to acquit you.
Self-Defense
Most domestic violence charges are for assault offenses, meaning you can claim self-defense. This is a total defense if you were truly acting to protect yourself from injury.
Merely saying that the other person was also abusive is not necessarily a self-defense claim, and it may not be legally sufficient to stop the charges. Even so, it could help convince a jury to find you not guilty.
Alibi
An alibi is not a legal defense, but merely a fact that can help disprove that it was actually you who committed the alleged abuse. If you were somewhere else when the alleged abuse occurred, this might make it hard to prove the case against you.
Lack of Evidence
Many domestic violence cases involve the alleged victim’s word against your own. Without additional evidence, such as witnesses hearing shouting or police observing the fight, it can be hard for the government to prove their case. If the alleged victim refuses to cooperate, it might mean the government does not even have their word to use against yours.
In some cases, illegally obtained evidence can be blocked from being used against you, further reducing the evidence available.
Lack of Injury
If the alleged victim’s injuries are not serious enough, the crime does not meet the definition of assault. There must be actual, physical injuries for assault charges.
Strangulation and aggravated assault charges typically require even more serious evidence of harm. For example, aggravated assault usually needs life-threatening injuries; strangulation typically needs proof of burst blood vessels in the face and eyes. Without this, charges may need to be reduced to simple assault.
Can You Go Home After Being Charged with Domestic Abuse?
Potentially. Whether you can get bail and be released at all will require the court to weigh your flight risk, danger to the community, and danger to the alleged victim. If you are eligible for release, you do not need to stay in jail in pre-trial detention.
However, you might not be able to return to a home you shared with the alleged victim. You may be required to live elsewhere while the case is pending and avoid contact with the alleged victim.
Will You Lose Custody if You Face Domestic Abuse Charges?
Potentially. If you are already in the middle of a child custody case or divorce/separation, the allegations of abuse could be used against you to say you are unsafe and should be stripped of custody.
If there is not already an ongoing case, assault charges against your coparent could be grounds for them to file a custody claim.
A PFA or bail conditions might also block you from returning to a shared home with the victim, and would potentially block you from contacting the victim or their children – even if you share children. These are not explicit custody decisions, but they can effectively block you from exercising your custody or parental rights.
Call Our Domestic Violence Lawyers in Chester County Today
Call Kenny, Burns & McGill for a free case review with our domestic violence defense lawyers at (215) 774-5644.
