Lisa Pelosi: Depends on what state you reside. In New York you cannot get it expunged.
It Is Imperative to Contact an Attorney Immediately in Order to Have a Shot at Maintaining a Clean Record
Interviewer: All the better reason to hire an attorney to help defend you in the first place.
Lisa Pelosi: Yeah, your shot at having a clean record comes when you’re arrested, the day you get a call that the police are looking for you that’s the exact moment you need to contact your criminal defense attorney. I’m 24 hours, so I often get calls on Saturday at midnight that my client has been contacted by a detective because there’s been an allegation of domestic violence. The second I get the call I advise the client not to do anything, and I take over the case right away. Contact the detective and try to explain the situation to the detective and then I meet the client at the precinct and protect his rights or her rights and make sure that the detectives know that my client is not going to make a statement without me present.
Normally I don’t allow my client to make a statement.
Common Client Concerns When Meeting with a Defense Attorney
Interviewer: What are some of your clients’ needs when they meet with you?
Lisa Pelosi: The needs are sometimes very varied. In some ways I feel like a social worker when I’m dealing with these cases because as I said the person who’s the subject of an order of protection has actually lost their home and often times it’s the husband, or the male, but again not always. What ends up happening is in many cases they’re prevented from seeing their children and in some cases when jobs find out about the arrest they’re suspended so there’s a lot of needs and often times the court will want or the prosecutors will want my clients to go into programs.
A Defense Attorney Needs to Work Closely with Clients to Discover Programs Suitable to Their Needs
I need to work closely with them to find programs that adequately suit their needs including their schedules because sometimes a court wants these programs, but you have a person who also works full time. I have to deal with a lot of different bureaucratic issues to find programs that suit my client’s schedule and needs.
The Emotional Factors Involved in a Domestic Violence Case
Interviewer: How do you help clients remove the emotional factors and help them focus on their case?
Lisa Pelosi: Obviously, my main role in the case is to advocate for them as a criminal defense attorney, and my main focus is to try to get their record cleared of any possible convictions. I would like the result for my client to be that they don’t have a conviction or if they do it’s something that will not hurt them. That is my primary goal, but with that goal in mind there’s just normal emotional issues that come up and you want to be there for you client and you want them to know that they can call you any time to discuss things.
Domestic Violence Cases Are Usually Emotionally Charged Because They Are Dealing With Real Life Issues
As a matter of fact because of the emotional stuff that goes on where one party is told they can’t have contact with their family often times knowing that the order of protection is in effect I will say if you think you’re going to call your spouse and you’d be violating that order of protection don’t make that call, call me instead. I’m always trying to protect my client from violating that order of protection. That’s what makes domestic violence cases so specialized because you are dealing with a lot of life issues where you try to get them help with the family court, and just help them navigate the system.
