Domestic Violence Defense Attorneys for Victims
This type of representation most often occurs in the context of domestic violence crimes. A common scenario is when a husband and wife (boyfriend and girlfriend) get into an argument and the police respond to the residence. In the heat of anger one of the two, let’s say the wife, tells the police that the husband committed some crime against her such as criminal threatening, simple assault, or obstruction of the report of a crime.
At the time the wife makes the allegations, she is angry and has embellished what happened. As the result of what she said, the husband is arrested and charged with a crime of domestic violence. The court imposes bail conditions that prevent the couple from having any contact. Thus, the husband cannot come home and cannot even talk to the wife or he risks arrest and new criminal charges.
The wife later wants to retract her statement, but if she does she runs the risk of being charged with a crime herself. Even though she is technically the victim in this scenario, the wife may wish to consult a lawyer to discuss her potential liability and to attempt to get these bail conditions changed to allow contact and to allow the husband to return home.
It is important to remember that a victim does not have the power to “press charges,” only the State does. This means that in the above scenario even if the wife does not want to testify against her husband a prosecutor has the power to subpoena her into court where she may be forced to testify. This type of scenario can be very confusing and difficult to attempt to navigate on one’s own.
The attorneys of Cohen & Winters represent victims who’ve made allegations against their partners in domestic violence. Don’t wait — contact us today to discuss your situation in a free consultation.
