How a Criminal Lawyer Can Help Your Domestic Violence Case

A professional criminal lawyer can increase your chances of getting acquitted or receiving a lenient penalty in a domestic violence case. If you are a domestic violence victim, the attorney can help you get a court-issued restraining order for your protection. Here are more ways a domestic violence lawyer can help your case:

Create a Good Defense

Before building a defense strategy for your case, a criminal attorney thoroughly investigates and analyzes your domestic violence charges. This gives them more insights into the case and enables them to develop an effective strategy against the plaintiff.

The attorney may check the prosecutor’s and jury’s history or witness testimonies when investigating the allegations against you. When defending you in court, a domestic violence attorney can argue that you acted in self-defense. The attorney can also use a reasonable doubt strategy to show that the prosecutor’s evidence could be inadequate or biased.

 An alibi strategy helps your criminal lawyer persuade the court that you weren’t at home when the suspected domestic violence occurred. Your lawyer can apply a falsely accused strategy if the prosecutor or plaintiff fails to produce any physical evidence of domestic violence.

The attorney may also persuade the court that the police violated the law by mishandling evidence or harassing you during investigations. Other defense strategies a domestic violence lawyer could come up with include mistaken identity, innocence, insanity, or probable cause.

Communicate With the Prosecutor

If the prosecutor doesn’t understand your case thoroughly, they may convince you to agree to the charges and, in return, offer you a lighter sentence. This is known as a plea deal. A prosecutor may offer you a plea deal if they lack adequate time or resources to investigate your domestic violence case. Your criminal lawyer can negotiate a plea deal with the prosecutor to help you get an unbiased settlement. The attorney can decline a plea deal if they want to present your evidence to the jury to aid in your trial.

A professional criminal attorney should be flexible and realistic when analyzing the offered plea deal. They may suggest an alternative deal that gives you a fairer settlement. Your domestic violence attorney can apply a charge bargaining tactic during plea deal negotiations. This strategy involves pleading guilty after the prosecutor agrees to reduce the charges. The attorney can use a sentence bargaining strategy, which requires a defendant to plead guilty if the prosecutor agrees to reduce the sentence.

Guide You Through Trial

A domestic violence attorney prepares for your case’s trial by reviewing police reports and other pieces of the collected evidence. Your criminal lawyer can gather adequate evidence to disapprove your guilt if you are a defendant in a domestic violence case.

If you are a plaintiff, evidence can help a domestic violence attorney prove your innocence to the court. The attorney can collect and review your fingerprints, emails, photos, and surveillance footage or use a crime scene map.

During trial preparation, the lawyer should analyze your allegations and determine the best ways to refute them. The attorney should inform you about any court orders and how to comply with them. A criminal attorney can help you accurately fill court records like briefs and orders when preparing for trial.

Your domestic violence attorney can also select a jury that could give a fair ruling in your case. A criminal lawyer understands the right questions to ask to determine whether jurors will be reliable and unbiased.

Provide Post-Conviction Support

A criminal lawyer may decide to challenge your conviction if the case trial was delayed or the ruling was biased. Your sentence could be reduced or dismissed after the court grants you post-conviction relief. Post-conviction relief occurs when the attorney requests the court to amend or modify its judgment.

The lawyer can file a motion to get a new trial or expunge the conviction as part of this relief. Expungement can delete your criminal records from the public view and protect your reputation.

Contact a Domestic Violence Lawyer

A domestic violence lawyer can develop a solid strategy to defend you if you are charged with domestic violence. These professionals can also guide you through the trial or negotiate with the prosecutor for a fair settlement. Contact an experienced and licensed criminal lawyer today to learn more about how they can help your domestic violence case.