Domestic violence is taken very seriously by Pennsylvania courts. If you’re currently facing criminal charges related to domestic violence, you need to call an experienced Pennsylvania domestic violence attorney as soon as possible. Unfortunately, courts often side with the victim in domestic violence cases. Clearing your name and protecting your future requires having a skilled defense lawyer on your side.
Like many other states, Pennsylvania doesn’t recognize domestic violence as a separate criminal charge. Specific charges that are considered types of domestic violence charges include:
Harassment
Simple assault
Aggravated assault
Sexual assault
Reckless endangerment
Child abuse or neglect
Kidnapping
Trespassing
Terroristic threats
Strangulation
These crimes become instances of domestic violence when the alleged victim is an immediate family member or current or former partner. When you’re charged with a domestic violence crime, there’s also a high chance of being served a protective order, instructing you to avoid all contact with the victim.
Domestic violence convictions can have a major impact on your future. Nearly any type of domestic violence-related charge results in jail time and fines. Certain domestic violence crimes, like aggravated assault and kidnapping, are felonies. Felony charges always involve much higher fines and prison sentencing, often with mandatory minimum sentences.
Having any sort of conviction for a violent crime on record can significantly impact your life in the long term, making it more difficult to secure employment and housing. Pennsylvania domestic violence convictions for sex crimes often lead to mandatory sex offender registration for the rest of your life.
Domestic violence convictions can also have a significant impact on child custody. If you have children, it’s likely that a conviction for domestic violence in Pennsylvania will lead a juvenile court to favor the other parent in a custody case. This means that you can lose or be denied custody of your children, and your visitation rights might be reduced.
In some cases, you may even be ordered to supervised visitation, especially if your children or their other parent is protected by a protective order or restraining order.
Emotions often run high in personal relationships. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much to find yourself facing domestic violence charges in Pennsylvania. In some cases, domestic violence charges center around serious accusations, like sexual assault. However, it’s not uncommon for an individual to face charges in a situation where they feel they did nothing wrong.
For example, simple assault in Pennsylvania is the charge you can face for attempting or causing bodily injury. When partners or family members are arguing, the slightest physical interaction might be perceived as threatening. If an upset partner reports you to the police, you can find yourself facing serious legal penalties when you didn’t harm or intend to cause any harm at all.
In cases like this, the person facing charges often makes the mistake of thinking that the case will be thrown out once they have the opportunity to present their side of the story to the judge. Unfortunately, assuming things will work out for the best is a poor defense strategy. In cases like this, it’s all too common for an innocent person to end up doing jail time and be left with lasting criminal charges on record.
If you’re facing criminal charges in Pennsylvania for domestic violence, you need a skilled criminal defense attorney on your case. Your lawyer’s job will be to review the facts of the case and the evidence against you.
In some cases, your domestic violence lawyer may be able to have the case thrown out fairly quickly. This is most common in cases in which there’s little to no evidence in support of a conviction, as well as in cases in which the charges are fabricated.
If your lawyer can find holes in the accuser’s story or get them to admit to making things up, your charges can be dropped without any lasting consequences.
In other cases, your domestic violence attorney may need to go to considerable lengths to craft a compelling defense. Exactly how a lawyer does this, and the type of defense argument they build, depends heavily on the exact charges you’re facing and the amount of evidence against you.
In some cases, overwhelming evidence might make it impossible to avoid all legal consequences. However, a lawyer can still have a considerable impact on how your case unfolds. Your Pennsylvania domestic violence lawyer might be able to effectively argue to have your charges dropped to a lesser crime, like having felony aggravated assault charges dropped to misdemeanor simple assault.
A lawyer might also be able to convince the judge to order alternative sentencing, probation, community service, or substance use counseling. For most individuals, these alternatives are all preferable to being sentenced to jail time.
It’s important to recognize that your future is on the line when you’re facing charges of domestic violence in Pennsylvania. Being arrested for a domestic crime can be deeply frustrating, especially if your accuser has lied about or exaggerated the incident. It’s a common reaction to try to offer an explanation for why you shouldn’t be arrested.
Unfortunately, trying to explain or clarify the situation usually only makes things worse. When you’re arrested for a domestic charge in Pennsylvania, anything you say to the police can be used to convict you.
It’s not always easy to recognize that even a seemingly innocent statement can be used to confirm your accuser’s story and convict you of the crime. That’s why it’s extremely important to remain calm and call a Pennsylvania domestic violence defense lawyer as soon as possible after the arrest.
A lawyer will help you understand the penalties you’re currently facing and advise you on what to say in response to police questions so you don’t accidentally incriminate yourself.
Your attorney will keep you informed about upcoming court hearings and what to expect as your case unfolds. They’ll also thoroughly investigate the charges and evidence against you and identify which defense arguments would work best in your case. The best way to protect your future and reduce the risk of a conviction is to hire a skilled Pennsylvania domestic violence defense lawyer as soon as you’re arrested.
Chieppor & Egner, LLC is a Pennsylvania law firm with a reputation for obtaining outstanding results in the courtroom. Our firm is located in Lancaster, PA, and we represent clients across south central Pennsylvania. Our skilled criminal defense lawyers handle a wide variety of case types, including criminal charges related to domestic violence.
Our attorneys have past experience working in the Lancaster Public Defender’s Office and the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office. This gives us an insider’s view into how criminal cases are prosecuted in Lancaster County, and we put this knowledge to work building airtight criminal defense arguments for our clients.
If you’re facing domestic violence charges in Pennsylvania, don’t wait to ask for help. Contact Chieppor & Egner, LLC today to schedule a free consultation with a skilled Pennsylvania domestic violence attorney.
