A protective order is issued by the court to stop future child abuse, spousal abuse or domestic abuse from happening again. A protective order is also known as a restraining order, and it prevents those who were listed in the order from initiating verbal or physical contact with the party who get the order.
Although a restraining order is an order from a civil court, violating it constitutes a criminal offense. The law firm of Attorney Mike Goolsby defends against issuance of restraining orders and against their supposed violations.
A protective order may be permanent or temporary and could prohibit you from staying in your own home, from seeing your children freely, from going into certain places and from possessing or owning a firearm.
An order of protection can be issued against blood relatives, spouses, siblings, former spouses, relatives through marriage, roommates, a person you shared a child with or dated as well as foster children.
As mentioned above, violating the terms of your restraining order can have you arrested and then charged with another criminal offense. After you are arrested and brought to jail, a judge may hold a hearing for bail, where it will be determined through preponderance of evidence whether the violation was committed with the intent of stalking or committing more violence against your family.
If there is such finding, the judge may have you held until trial without bail.
If you are convicted of violating a protective order, you will be given a class A misdemeanor, which is punishable with maximum of one year imprisonment served in a county jail and a maximum fine of 4,000 dollars.
However, if you have one or two convictions before for the same offense, the offense will be considered as a third degree felony, which is punishable by a prison sentence of from two to ten years.
Violation of protective order is considered as a serious offense because it means that you have disobeyed an order that came directly from the court.
The case would usually depend more on the statements of witnesses or the victim. However, in most cases, such statements can be challenged by the criminal defense lawyers of The Goolsby Law Firm for accuracy and credibility.
Take note that in a violation of protective order charge, the prosecution must establish that you have acted with criminal intention. The Goolsby Law Firm may be able to show through evidence that you have violated your protective order unintentionally.
Even if there is a plan for reconciliation between you and your partner or family and you are invited over to discuss things out, you may still be arrested by the police for violating your protective order if it is still active.
Thus, contacting our office is very important. Our skilled and experienced lawyers have defended countless individuals charged with violating their protective orders successfully in court. The consequences of the accusation could be harsh and the police can arrest you even without a warrant.
Call our office today for a free initial discussion of your case.
