Lisa Pelosi: Domestic violence cases can be felonies or misdemeanors just like any other types of cases. It’ll all depend on the level of the crime that’s alleged. If it’s an assault it’ll be determined if it’s a felony or a misdemeanor by the type of injuries and also if a weapon was used.
A Competent Defense Attorney Will Try to Get Charges Dismissed and Make Sure Their Client Doesn’t End Up with a Criminal Record
A good criminal defense attorney will work really hard to try to get a felony reduced to a misdemeanor and even try to get it dismissed, or if the case is a misdemeanor try to get it down to a violation or a dismissal. That’s the thing that I try very hard, I work so hard to try to make sure my clients don’t end up with criminal records. I don’t want them to have criminal records. I want their records to be clean. That’s a very big part of what I do.
Domestic Violence Cases Often Involve Hearsay Instead of Concrete Evidence
Domestic violence cases are cases where often it’s a he said, she said and there’s often not a lot of supporting evidence and because of my experience as a prosecutor with domestic violence cases I know what the prosecutor’s offices are looking for and I work really closely with them, and with my client, to try to have the client get out of the case without a criminal record in cases that I can do that.
Stalking Charges May Be Considered as a Catalyst for Violation of Orders of Protection
Interviewer: How do stalking charges relate to domestic violence cases? How do they fit in?
Lisa Pelosi: Well, stalking charges can actually be brought, and often are brought, about between people who do not know each other. Sometimes mental illness comes into play and someone develops a very extreme crush on someone, the cases that come to mind off the bat are celebrities, someone who has some kind of illness and develops a very big crush on a celebrity.
Also stalking is involved with people who know each other. For example, if a husband and wife are going through a divorce and one of the parties are constantly following the other party and wanting to know if they’re dating someone else or checking phone messages, this and that, it’s considered stalking. The courts treat this very seriously. Often times it’s the catalyst that causes the violation of the order of protection.
The Person Who Initiates Contact with the Authorities Is Usually the One Who Gets the Order of Protection
Interviewer: If I had a spouse that accused me of domestic violence, but persists on contacting me in order to get me into deeper trouble, could I put a restraining order on that individual?
Lisa Pelosi: Legally, probably yes, but the reality is unless there’s some conduct, which would rise to the level of the holder of the order of protection committing against you then you probably wouldn’t be able to get an order of protection against that same person.
In some ways that’s very unfair that the person who gets the police first is usually the one who gets the order of protection. That’s the thing I work with the DA’s office, with the prosecutor’s office with domestic violence cases. You really have to bring the total history of the relationship between the parties to the attention of the prosecutor.
A Defense Attorney’s Communication with the Prosecutor’s Office Is Essential in Defending a Domestic Violence Case
You need to let them know these people are going through a protracted divorce or there’s a history of false charges being brought by one party against the other, that there’s a history of calling the police saying the order of protection was violated when in fact it wasn’t. That’s where the communication with the prosecutor’s office is really essential when I’m defending someone who an allegation of domestic violence has been brought.
