Violating a Darien Protective Order
It is important that a person fully understands the type of conduct prohibited by the protective order. If they do not completely understand the provisions outlined in the order, they may inadvertently do something that triggers a violation which can make the situation worse and leads to additional charges and penalties. With that said, one way to ensure you understand the provisions of an order is to consult with a Darien protective order attorney who can try and mitigate the requirements and make sure that you are aware of what actions or contact should be avoided.
What Takes Place Following a Violation
When a person thinks that a protective order was violated, they file a report with their local police department with the details of the offense. A police officer prepares an arrest warrant and submits the warrant to the court. The court then decides whether to prosecute the charge.
Once the police officer submits an arrest warrant to the court, the judge reads through the facts of the case and determines whether a law has been violated. If the judge finds that a person violated the protective order, that person is arrested for violation of a protective order and is arrested and charged with a felony.
There may also be aggravating factors at play when it comes to determining the additional penalties involved. An aggravating factor depends on the type of crime committed. For example, a harassment or a stalking crime can increase the repercussions of violating a restraining order or protective order.
Evidence
The evidence needed in these cases depends on the facts of each case. It is helpful if the parties have an amicable relationship and are able to show a history of that. For example, if the parties involved were texting for a long time, there may be a string of friendly text messages that can prove to the prosecutor that the other person engaged in the conversation and had no problem with it at the time.
Sometimes this happens in divorce cases. A person uses a restraining order or protective order as leverage in a divorce case. Evidence of harmless communication between the parties can be helpful as a defense.
Impact of a Violation
A violation of a protective order is a Class C or Class D felony. Sometimes, the violation is unintentional or one person believes their behavior is not threatening when the other person reports it as threatening.
When the violation of a protective order is unintentional, it can result in the person being charged with a felony. It affects their criminal case because they are at risk of being charged with a violation for the duration of the criminal case until the protective order is vacated.
The civil protective order can hurt a person charged with domestic violence because there is the risk of violating it. If a person does violate the protective order, they are charged with a felony. If the person is in a diversionary program to dispose of the domestic violence charges and they violate the protective order, they are charged with the felony and can be bounced out of the program. Usually, the person is dropped from the program and no longer has the opportunity to complete the program.
Benefits of An Attorney
Anyone accused of violating a restraining or protective order should contact an attorney for representation because they are being charged with a felony which carries a serious sentence that includes jail time.
Sometimes a person’s behavior is somewhat innocent and they do not think they should be charged with the violation. Having an attorney on their side in those scenarios is very helpful. This is especially true when the violation is something harmless, such as sending a text message or liking a person’s picture on social media.
A restraining order attorney can work to have the charge reduced or dropped entirely if it is not some type of threatening behavior.