Norwalk Protective Orders

A protective order is an order that is put in place that restraints a defendant from having some form of contact or restricts this form of behavior with respect to a particular victim in the case. A judge will grant a protective order anytime there are criminal charges pending against a defendant that are domestic, in cases where the judge believes that certain conditions need to be placed on the defendant in order to protect the parties involved in the case. That is the only standard, whatever the judge in their discretion believes is necessary to protect the parties involved in the case.

If you want to understand the limitations and regulations of your protective order, or you want to issue a protective order in Norwalk, it is important to work with a Norwalk domestic violence attorney who can help with any issues you have.

Types of Orders in Norwalk, Connecticut

Once a case goes to court, the judge may enter a protective order anytime they believe that an order is necessary for the safety and well-being of the people that are involved in the case. If the judge does impose that condition, which will happen in a domestic violence case at least upon the first time being in court, a judge can make orders that would pose a restraint on the defendant from threatening, harassing, assaulting, or stalking the victim in the case. The judge can also make an order that says that the defendant cannot go to the home of the victim and the judge can also make an order, which is the most extreme version of the protective order, which would be that the defendant have no contact at all with the victim in any way, shape, or form.

There are basically three different levels. First, that a person could have contact but that person cannot stalk, threaten, or harass the person. There is the second level, which is the person can speak to the person, they can see them outside their home, but they cannot go to the home of the person and also not to stalk or harass them. The third level is that there is no contact whatsoever.

Good Cause

Good cause is any cause that in good conscience would make somebody want to reconsider a decision or consider deviating from the normal course of a decision-making rubric. If there is a  standard decision that is typically made under certain circumstances, good cause is something that would permit or cause a decision-maker or judge in this instance to want to deviate from that standard decision-making protocol, so it is any kind of circumstance that would compel a deviation from the norm.

Good cause can relate to it can relate to domestic violence programs in Norwalk and other things involved in the domestic violence system of criminal justice but as it relates to protective orders, there is not necessarily any specific requirement of finding a good cause to either impose or not impose any particular condition.

Violation of an Order

A person that violates a criminal protective order in Norwalk would be guilty of a Class D or C felony. There is a separate charge called criminal violation for protective order and that person violates it if they basically do not follow the rules that were provided in the protective order.

It will be a Class D felony if it is for any violation. It becomes a Class C felony, which is a more serious level of felony, if in the course of violating the protective order, the defendant imposes a restraint upon the liberty of the victim or threatens, harasses, assaults, or otherwise attacks the victim in the case, as part of the violation of the protective order.

Difference From a Restraining Order

A restraining order is a civil order, whereas a protective order in Norwalk is a criminal order. A restraining order may be applied for through the civil court system without regard to whether there is an arrest or a criminal arrest has been made. A criminal protective order gets implemented by a judge as part of the domestic violence case, a criminal protective order cannot exist unless there has been somebody that is charged with a crime.

A civil restraining order, on the other hand, can exist without regards to whether a crime has been committed. Other than those two distinctions, the orders themselves and the types of things that are prohibited are essentially exactly the same and the consequences are exactly the same as violating either a civil restraining order or criminal protective order.