Domestic Battery charges can befall a client who has an altercation with any “household member” or spouse. If the police are dispatched to a residence where a domestic battery allegedly occurred one of the two (or more) involved must be arrested. The State’s Attorney has issued a directive to all police departments that one of the parties must be charged. Their reasons for this is unimportant. What is important is that this directive results in many people being charged with Domestic Battery upon legally insufficient grounds.
The arrest alone can cost a person his/her job. The arrest can also result in loss of FOID cards. Sometimes an Order of Protection is issued along with the domestic battery charge. Orders of protection are issued on a temporary basis (30 days) where the judge determines ex parte (with only one party to the order in court) that a risk of harm exists to the petitioner. The Order requires a person to avoid any contact with the protected person for a limited period of time. Orders of protection also result in invalidation of a FOID card against the respondent.
Bonds are typically $100.00 to $2,000.00. Getting a bond reduction is a simple and fast process. I work every day with the prosecutors who control your bonds. I know which one will allow my clients to be released without posting bond. If a bond must be posted then our next course of action is to obtain the lowest bond amount available. We handle bond reductions for all types of these charges on a weekly basis. Generally a bond reduction is obtained the same day we are retained. Due to the nature of the charge the Court will require a person to post at least minimal bond before being released. That being said, a recognizance bond is an option. The facts of the charge are very important and looked at closely by the Court when determining whether a person can get a recognizance bond.
We focus first on collecting all available pieces of evidence that exist. Independent witnesses, statements against interest by the alleged victim, telephone records or voicemail messages, emails or instant messages, texts, and photographs depicting injuries to the Defendant are examples of this type of evidence. Cooperation of the victim in these cases increases the chances of obtaining a dismissal. If the police don’t do their jobs and photograph or documents the physical injuries the charge can also be more readily dismissed. We use an “affidavit of nonprosecution” to assist the State in dismissing the charge.
We have successfully tried domestic batteries. One client was charged with felony aggravated battery. He was arrested by the police with virtually no evidence against him. I gained the cooperation of the alleged victim in the case. We attempted to negotiate the case’s dismissal but the prosecutor wouldn’t agree. So we set a firm trial date and announced ready. Brian Polinske appeared in court as lead counsel and began to pick the jury. Before jury selection had been completed the State agreed to dismiss the case. The State discovered that we weren’t going to “cop a deal” on a case that had no chance of winning at trial.
Another client had been charged with domestic battery to her husband who had recently stated to her that he had developed another relationship with a mistress. There was plenty of evidence to convict her had the case gone to jury trial. We negotiated a straight dismissal (June 2010).
What Are You Waiting For?
If you need skilled legal help with a misdemeanor or felony DUI from a veteran team of trial attorneys, contact us by e-mail or call us at 618-505-4213 (877-632-3089 toll-free). A free initial consultation is available when and where you need it.
Credit Cards Accepted
