Protective Orders in Alexandria Domestic Violence Cases
A protective order, also commonly referred to as a restraining order, is a legal document issued by a judge or a magistrate that is designed to keep one person away from another person.
In a domestic violence case in Alexandria, someone might be issued a protective order and there can be serious repercussions for violating that protective order. If someone becomes faced with a charge of violating their order, or does not understand the limitations of the order, a skilled domestic violence lawyer will be able to help.
Issuing an Order
An individual can get a protective order that requires someone they are afraid of to stay away from them, assuming they can prove to the magistrate or a judge that they are under a legitimate threat of an assault or have been recently assaulted by the person named in the protective order.
A protective order is a civil document in nature. In a lot of cases for judicial economy reasons, these hearings are scheduled on the same day so that all of the parties are there for both cases. No person who is the subject of a protective order can be jailed, fined, or in any way have their liberty constrained.
Violating a Protective Order
If a person is charged with violating a protective order in a domestic violence case in Alexandria, that person’s trouble worsens. It is likely that they will be put in jail with no hope for bond, because most individuals charged with violating a protective order already have some other charges against them. They might be out on bond on those charges. So, that person has a condition where the person might have violated the conditions of their bond or the conditions of a protective order.
There are not many judges that would allow a person to remain out on bond if they are the subject of a domestic assault charge and accused of having violated a protective order against them. The protective order, if violated, can constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor independent of anything else that has already happened.
Working with an Alexandria Protective Order Lawyer
Having an Alexandria protective order lawyer for a civil hearing that deals with the domestic violence cases in Alexandria and their protective orders is necessary, because a civil hearing, an individual can be compelled to testify even if it is against an individual’s own interest and there is nothing they can do in civil court to stop that from happening.
In cases where there is an Alexandria domestic assault criminal charge and a parallel protective order hearing, lawyers will ask the court to delay the protective order hearing until the criminal charge is sorted out and finalized. Once that happens, the person can testify freely at the protective order hearing without worrying about potentially inculpatory testimony.
A lot of times in cases like this, there is a negotiation between the parties and the government to try to sort out an agreement that makes everybody happy and that includes the disposition of both the criminal charge and the protective order charge. Having a lawyer present or available to handle these negotiations can help an individual’s overall chances of success with these cases.
