Norwalk Protective Order Hearings

The general purpose of Norwalk protective order hearings is to hear from all parties involved, to help the court determine what type of protective order should be entered. If you are the subject of a protective order, it is important to have an accomplished protective order attorney on your side. A determined lawyer could work tirelessly to protect your rights and advocate for you.

What Parties Have to Be Present at That Hearing?

At Norwalk protective order hearings, the petitioner will give their input to the victim advocate who will then relay the alleged victim’s input to the court. The other parties that have to be present are the Family Relations Officer, the Bail Commissioner, the prosecutor, and the person and their lawyer. If a person violates another state’s protective order in Connecticut, they will be arrested in Connecticut. Any protective order hearing takes place at the Norwalk Superior Court.

The Scope of the Hearing in Relation to a Domestic Violence Charge

Norwalk protective order hearings always takes place at the person’s arraignment on a domestic-violence charge the next business day after the arrest. Along with hearing bond arguments and any arguments or conditions of release, the protective order portion also takes place. The court will hear testimony and arguments from several parties about the nature of the charges and whether protective orders should be entered and if so, what level.

The victim’s advocate, the Family Relations Officer, the Bail Commissioner, the prosecutor, and then the person’s lawyer will have a chance to give an argument as to what type of protective order should be issued. A Family Relations Officer’s role in a protective order hearing is to make recommendations to the judge based on information gathered from their initial meeting with the defendant.

Contesting Protective Orders

If a person wants to challenge the protective order that was issued, they can ask for a Fernando A evidentiary hearing, which will typically be held within 14 days after their first court date. Otherwise, if they want to make a motion to the court to modify the protective order, the accused can do that any time they want, and the court will schedule a hearing on its first available motion day.

A person can always file a motion to modify the protective order at any time they want, but the initial hearing date will take place 24 hours after their arrest, so there would be nothing they would be able to do prior to that hearing date.

Types of Evidence That Could Lead a Judge to Overturn an Order

Protective orders in Norwalk do not get overturned, but they can be relaxed by a judge who did not deem the crime serious enough to warrant a protective order. The judge may substitute a less-restrictive protective order, but with any domestic violence charge, the law in Connecticut requires a protective order to be in place while the case is pending. Thus, a person will never run into a situation in which a protective order is taken away or overturned; there always will be some type of protective order in place.

A judge can extend the protective order if they feel it needs to cover other parties such as the children or even if they feel a more serious protective order needs to be in place. Usually, that will occur if the defendant has violated the current protective order, and the judge decides a more restrictive protective order needs to be put in place.

Benefit of a Norwalk Protective Order Attorney

In a protective order case, it will always be the defendant alone against several court officials advocating for the alleged victim in support of a heavy restraining order. In such a situation, it is especially critical that the defendant have a lawyer arguing against the restraining or protective order and advocating for them. A strict protective order can have a detrimental impact on their personal relationship and their professional livelihood. That is why it is important for an individual to get in touch with a top Norwalk, CT lawyer that has experience handling Norwalk protective order hearings. A skilled lawyer could leverage their experience to produce a positive outcome for them.