If you find yourself in a situation that involves possible domestic abuse, it is important that you contact your domestic abuse attorney as soon as possible. The reason that this is so important is that the crime of domestic abuse is handled differently than many other types of crimes. Only an experienced and qualified domestic violence attorney can help you to determine how to handle the situation that you find yourself in.
One of the first things that are different about this crime than other types of crime is that the case starts with the phone call to the police. When the police officers arrive at the scene, they have to operate under a different set of rules than they do for other crimes. If they believe that someone involved has been guilty of domestic assault within the last 24 hours, they are required by law to make an arrest. In order to do this, they have to make a decision on who is the most responsible for the situation. Sometimes this can be complicated because both parties involved are technically guilty of domestic. It is up to the police officers who respond to the phone call to determine which party started the assault and which parties were involved as self-defense.
In order to make this type of determination they will look at several factors. One of the issues will be the injuries to both of the parties involved. Again, they will have to figure out which injuries appear to be a result of self-defense. They will also look at the history of both people to see if either of them has a history of domestic violence.
When the officer arrives on the scene, there are usually two of them that answer the call. In most cases, they will each interview the people involved separately to find out what happened. Then the officers will compare the stories and decide what they think happened. If they believe a crime was committed, they must make an arrest.
Many times the victim of the crime changes their mind about wanting to press charges before the trial actually takes place. If this were to occur, the trial would still go forward. If the victim insists on not wanting to press charges, their position in the trial will change. They may no longer want to work with the prosecution on the case; however they will still be required to testify in court as the victim of the crime. Since so many of the victims of domestic assault are convinced by their significant others to not press charges or to not testify against them, these laws were enacted. If a crime has been committed, there will be an arrest and a trial will take place. This happens regardless of whether the victim wants it to or not. If you find yourself being accused of domestic assault, it is important that you contact an attorney as soon as possible. This should start as soon as the police are called.
Submitted by: Ellie Lewis
About Today's Contributor
Ellie Lewis was fascinated by the quality work provided by the Las Vegas domestic abuse attorney she spent time with. She also reviewed some of his cases...