Month: November 2021 Archives

The following is a common situation: A person is charged with domestic violence, and the alleged victim does not appear or does not want to testify. Does that mean the accused person is free to go? No, the legal system is not that simple. Domestic violence charges are some of the hardest offenses to prosecute. Often, the evidence is scarce. The evidence that does exist presents itself in the form of differing testimonies from the defendant and the alleged victim. The defendant and the alleged victim often give conflicting statements. Prosecutors usually pin the theory of their entire case on the testimony of victims. Victims do not like testifying against their abusers; therefore, they often resist testifying. When a witness…

Verbal abuse, in the legal sense, refers to using words to cause a victim harm. Verbal abuse takes many forms and looks different in every situation. One person’s social media tirade is another person’s walk in the park. Verbal abuse can berate or belittle a victim, but does it rise to the level of domestic abuse? Verbal abuse can amount to domestic abuse. This is called domestic verbal abuse, and it occurs when two people live in the same household with an intimate relationship. Domestic verbal abuse can occur between spouses, two people who used to date, and people who have had a child together. Domestic verbal abuse also can take place between people who are related by blood or…

If you are ordered to appear in court for an ex parte hearing, you might be confused. You may have never heard the term ex parte before. Even worse, you might lose an ex parte hearing or fail to appear, and you now have a domestic violence protection order. As a result, you cannot enter your home or talk to the other people that live there. The situation outlined above is the reality of receiving an order of protection, also called a restraining order, after a domestic violence accusation. After you receive a restraining order, there will be a court hearing twenty-one days later to review the order and determine if the order should remain in place or be rescinded….