Evidence in First-Time Third-Degree Domestic Assault Cases in Greenwich

Typical evidence in first-time third-degree domestic assault arrests in Greenwich may include things like medical records, social media or text messages, video surveillance footage, and anything else a defense attorney has access to. An experienced assault lawyer can try to collect evidence that includes any social media or electronic communication, any surveillance footage if available, and any medical records if an injury is being alleged.

Dismissing Harmful Evidence

That situation might come up if the police officers end up questioning the person while they are in custody without an attorney present and without them being read their Miranda Rights. Such a situation is a violation of the Constitution and the defense attorney can file a motion to suppress that statement and try to keep it out of any prosecution of the case against the charged individual.

Witness testimony is considered evidence in first-time third-degree domestic assault arrests in Greenwich. Having their stories dismissed will depend on the nature of the testimonies. If there is a witness that refuses to come to trial to make their statement, it would not be allowed in the trial because the defendant could not question them. Another way to get testimonies dismissed is by showing the court that the testimony might be irrelevant or overly prejudiced against the defendant. There are a couple of different ways to do that and typically such strategies are usually only considered if the matter actually gets to trial.

Third-Degree Convictions

To get a conviction for a third-degree assault in Greenwich, the prosecutor would have to prove that the defendant intentionally made physical contact with another person. They do not have to show a serious physical injury, but they have to show intentional physical contact.

In order to do so, a prosecutor might rely on evidence-based prosecution. Evidence-based prosecution just means that the prosecutor will look at any physical evidence that is available to them, including medical records or surveillance footage, and use that to prosecute the case rather than relying solely on witness testimony.

Risks of Taking the Stand

If the alleged victim is not deemed credible and is not someone that the jury would believe, the attorney may decide to put their potential client on the stand. Experienced attorneys are able to question accusers in a way that it does not put the alleged victims on the defensive and does not make the defendant or the attorney look bad. In other words, an experienced attorney can get the information needed from the alleged victim without doing so in a way that is offensive to anyone. The biggest challenge is being careful about questioning the accuser and making sure that the defense attorney does not make the jury feel even more sympathetic towards the accuser.

Preparing a Defense

A lot of times, defending charged individuals involves working toward a resolution with the prosecution in which the case gets dropped. Alternatively, a defense attorney can appeal to the judge to suspend the prosecution and ask for an eventual dismissal. Attorneys do this by talking to the person, getting background information about the relationships, seeing what can be done to help the relationship or end the relationship if necessary. They can set the person up with counselors such as licensed alcohol and drug counselors, anger management counselors, or a marital therapist as evidence in first-time third-degree domestic assault arrests in Greenwich. This may show the court that the individual is taking the case seriously and improving. If attorneys can make enough assurances to the court that they will not be in this situation again in the future, they can work on keeping the case off of the individual’s permanent criminal record.