Need a Criminal Lawyer for Domestic Violence charges?
Find a criminal lawyer who is experienced handling spousal abuse, domestic violence allegations and domestic abuse offenses. As a former prosecutor, Lisa Pelosi has years of experience prosecuting and defending domestic violence and assault related criminal offenses of all types in New York City and NY State.
What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic Violence is a violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm. Family or household members include spouses / former spouses, those in (or formerly in) a dating relationship, adults related by blood or marriage, and those who have a biological or legal parent-child relationship.
Domestic violence can include any type of emotional, sexual, physical, psychological, or economic abuse or deliberate neglect committed by one person against a family member, spouse, partner, ex-wife or husband or any other person close to the offender. The penalty for domestic violence will depend on several factors:
- The actual crime and circumstances
- The state law in which the crime was committed
The law views many of the following as domestic violence and will charge the offender accordingly with the felony class based on the crime. Here are several crimes that can be categorized as domestic violence crimes:
- Assault
- Battery
- Child abuse
- Criminally negligent homicide
- Destruction of property
- Endangering the welfare of a child
- Harassment
- Justifiable homicide
- Kidnapping
- Murder
- Rape
- Robbery
- Reckless endangerment
- Sexual assault
- Stalking
- Voluntary manslaughter
Domestic Violence Lawyer and Domestic Violence Law Firm
Here is domestic violence and stalking laws information in New York State from New York Assembly woman Diane Gordon:
Family Protection and Domestic Violence Act: information on penalties for domestic crimes in New York.
New York’s Domestic Violence Law:
- Requires police to arrest batterers who violate “stay away” orders of protection or commit a felony or a misdemeanor against another household or family member
- Enables victims to bring their cases to family and criminal courts concurrently, instead of forcing victims to choose between them
- Provides for orders of protection for up to two years in most cases and up to five years where serious injury occurs, a weapon is used, there is a repeated offense, or other aggravating circumstances
- Requires violators face felony charges when harassing or threatening a victim during an order of protection violation
- Provides that, in the case of repeated violations, including threatening phone calls, faxes or e-mail messages, violators could face up to four years in prison (seven years if a victim suffers physical injury)
- Requires criminal and family courts issuing orders of protection to revoke or suspend the abuser’s firearms license as well as take away the weapon
Maintains a statewide Orders of Protection Registry to aid police and courts when taking action
- Provides for training programs to teach police officers, judges and district attorneys how to handle domestic violence cases
- Permits courts to order the batterer to pay up to $10,000 restitution to the victim
- Allows courts to give orders of protection, even when the offender does not reside in New York State, thus giving victims who live or work in New York protection
- Requires courts to consider domestic violence in child custody and visitation cases
- Restricts visitation/custody rights of persons convicted of murdering a child’s parent or guardian, sibling or half sibling unless the court finds visitation is in the child’s best interest or the convicted person proves the murder was in response to domestic violence
- Authorizes issuing a temporary child support order and order of protection at the same time
- Requires police to determine the primary physical aggressor, so that victims of domestic violence are not inappropriately arrested along with their abusers when more than one person alleges violence
- Enables a local criminal court to issue a temporary order of protection, or modify a temporary order of protection issued by a family court when family and supreme court are not in session
- Ensures safety for victims of domestic violence by promoting more rigorous interstate enforcement of orders of protection.
Domestic Violence Lawyer Information
A person can be charged with a crime in most states if they interfere with the reporting of domestic violence or domestic abuse. Some states require the offender be arrested and some state laws require filing a domestic violence report even if no arrest is made.
Special note: The victim in most states does not have the authority to drop charges (even if they want to). In most cases, domestic violence charges can only be dropped by the prosecutor or district attorney and must be approval by the judge.You can get more information with a domestic violence lawyer or domestic violence law firm.
Orders issued by the courts
- Restraining orders or no contact order — contact is prohibited by any means for a certain period of time
- Civil protection order — an order to have the offender stay away from the victim, move out of the home, etc…
The penalty for domestic violence will depend on the specific case and whether or not the defendant has previous domestic violence offenses.
Possible punishments and sentencing for domestic violence:
- prison or jail time
- fines
- community service
- probation
- domestic violence treatment programs
Those who are convicted of domestic crime are prohibited from possessing a firearm and may lose other rights as well.
Need Lawyers for Domestic Violence? Here are tips on finding the right lawyer to help you with domestic violence allegations and offenses.
