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Domestic Violence

In order to convict someone of domestic violence, the prosecuting attorney must prove:

1. An accused person committed an act of physical abuse,
2. Against a spouse or former spouse, or cohabitant or former cohabitant, who can also be a non-family member who resides (or resided) in the household.

An accused can be charged with domestic violence as a misdemeanor, which carries a sentence up to 1 year) or as a felony, which usually involves a significant injury to the victim and carries a sentence of up to 5 years in state prison. Whether a misdemeanor or felony, the crime of domestic violence almost always carries with it a "stay-away" (restraining) order directed to the accused not to have any further contact with the alleged victim. This poses a problem, of course, because in far too many cases, the accused and the victims of domestic violence want to reunite in the household before the court terminates the stay-away order. This places an accused person at a substantial risk of incarceration if hostilities arise once again.

Therefore, it is imperative that defendants accused of domestic violence retain an attorney of the caliber of Ken Holder, who is committed to ensuring that not only is the case handled properly with the prosecutor of your case, but that all steps necessary to avoid the long term effects of a stay-away order are dealt and that either: 1) a reconciling couple are re-united as soon as practical or, 2) in the event of termination of the relationship, the defendant's property rights are protected.

In addition, after cooler heads prevail, it often becomes fairly obvious that a physical threat or act did not really occur to a level of "violence." Yet, prosecutors rarely dismiss a charge of domestic violence against an accused, regardless of the wishes of the victim. The result is that by over-inflating the charge, far too many accused persons are convicted of a crime, which in reality, never took place. Thus, it is very easy to see why this type of attorney is needed to ensure that defendants in domestic violence cases are not "run over" by an overly aggressive prosecution.