Westport Civil and Criminal Domestic Violence Actions

Westport civil and criminal domestic violence actions are similar in treatment yet different in their reasons for being brought to court. Criminal actions are typically brought by the state on behalf of the accuser or alleged victim. Yet, for either case, an accused could benefit from an experienced domestic violence lawyer.

Defining Civil Domestic Violence Actions

A civil domestic violence action is where someone who is the victim of domestic violence brings a civil suit to recover money from someone that allegedly perpetrated domestic violence. In a civil claim, an accuser is asking for monetary compensation or for the accused to compensate them for their injuries that they received as a result of a family violence incident. In a civil domestic violence action, an accuser can withdraw the case at any time.

Why is it Important to Limit Contact with an Accuser?

It is important for the accused to limit contact with the accuser because they do not want any of their behavior during trial to be seen as witness tampering. If, before the trial, each side tries to work things out before the proceeding, that is generally an acceptable time for them to contact each other. However, the rules surrounding this expectation can vary per case and it may be beneficial for the accused to speak with an attorney about their expected behavior during Westport civil and criminal domestic violence actions.

What is a Criminal Domestic Violence Claim?

In a criminal domestic violence action, the accuser is asking the prosecutor to prosecute the crime and deliver justice for the accuser.  An accuser cannot drop charges in a criminal domestic violence action. That is up to the prosecutor.

An accuser can give input that they want to go forward and they can indicate to the prosecutor that they will not testify if there is a trial but the prosecutor’s the one who decides whether to drop charges. The accuser never can actually drop the charges themselves.

A state’s attorney in Connecticut can require that the accuser participate in the criminal case by sending them a subpoena and telling them that they need to testify but that would not stop the accuser from refusing to answer questions on the stand or lying on the stand. Typically, when the accuser does not want to participate, they are not forced to.

What is Law Enforcement’s Duty to Investigate a Claim?

The duty of the Westport law enforcement officer is to investigate crimes and protect those seeking Westport civil and criminal domestic violence actions. When they come to the scene or there has been a report of domestic violence, they investigate, they try to find the facts and see if there’s probable cause to make an arrest on one or both people that were involved in the assault, and to protect the victim, they give the victim certain phone numbers to call for counseling, crisis centers and they do their best to get the defendant out of the house so they don’t endanger the victim.

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