Lisa Pelosi: Well it goes back to what I’ve already stated once a case is brought and an individual is arrested then there’s an order of protection and once the order of protection is in effect then the individual in which the order of protection is against violates it, and for example, he goes to the home where he or she shares with their spouse or their loved one, or boyfriend or girlfriend even, if they return to that location that would be deemed to be a violation of the order of protection and then the person can be arrested again.
Trespass is definitely something that the court would look at for the violation of order of protection, even merely making a phone call or sending a text message or an email would be deemed to be violating the order of protection.
Once An Allegation of Domestic Violence Is Made It Is Very Hard To Avoid An Arrest
Interviewer: During a dispute will there always be an arrest on the part of the police officers?
Lisa Pelosi: Unfortunately, the police have very little discretion now in whether or not to make an arrest in a domestic violence case, so I would say almost 100% of the times, usually it’s a female, but not always, calls the police there’s an arrest. Once an allegation is made it’s very hard for a defense attorney once the allegation is made to have an arrest not take place.
A Good Defense Attorney Will Make Sure That a One Sided Story Is Not Presented to the Authorities
One of the reasons you would want to work with a good defense attorney, especially someone who knows this area of law, would be for them to try to contact the detective immediately and work with the detective and put forth the client’s side of the story to right from the beginning let it be known that it’s not a one-sided situation.
Once An Allegation of Domestic Violence Is Made It Is usually the Male Member Who Gets Arrested
Interviewer: When did this happen where police officers have to start make immediate arrests for this?
Lisa Pelosi: I would say about 25 years or so, as a social issue, society started to really realize that in certain cases people needed help and in the past officers would respond to a home and a woman, and it was usually a woman, mostly a woman had been battered and the officers would be met by another family member who would say don’t worry everything’s fine.
Usually an Allegation Is Acted Upon by the Police without Any Corroborative Evidence
Then the police would leave and then the battering would continue. It’s now over the years, it was essentially started for the protection of women where police officers weren’t taking the battering seriously. It has evolved in my opinion to a situation where once an allegation is made, no matter how small or big, even without any corroborative evidence, usually it’s the man who’s arrested and taken to court and usually has to spend 24 hours before they see a judge. What started as a very good idea to help women who didn’t have a voice and the police department were ignoring, it’s now turned to any allegation without any backup or supporting evidence. Usually it’s men who are being arrested. Often times it’s unfair. Not all, but often.
It is Possible to Have a Domestic Violence Case Dropped but the Prosecutor’s Office Does Not Grant Dismissal Easily
Interviewer: What if the spouse just feels like they wanted to drop the case during the middle of it. Is that possible?
Lisa Pelosi: It is possible, but prosecutor’s offices do not dismiss right out. I’ve done many cases where it takes an awful lot of work to get a prosecutor’s office not only to drop the charges, but to get rid of the order of protection. Many times you’d have situations where the prosecutor’s office is being overly cautious and people want to get back together, and the prosecutor’s office will not remove the order of protection. A lot of times clients will think this is not a big deal, this is not a big case because my spouse is going to drop the charges.
People Should Be Careful When They Call the Police Alleging Domestic Violence
I don’t think they realize that the prosecutor’s office is not going to just drop the charges just because the other spouse changes their mind. Yeah, it’s a very serious difficult problem when families want to be reunited, but the prosecutors won’t drop the order of protection or the judge will not drop the orders of protection. People should be really careful before they call the police, well in any cases, but especially with domestic violence cases because the police department and the prosecutor’s office will not let you change your mind so easily.
