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Virginia Domestic Violence Defense Strategies

Any domestic violence charge can tear families apart and ultimately lead to some amount of jail time for an individual. A Virginia domestic violence attorney can help you understand and come up with types of defenses to use in your case. It is important to contact an experienced attorney today to helpĀ build your defense.

Common Defenses in Domestic Violence Cases

The most common defense used in domestic violence casesĀ is self-defense. If a person is charged with domestic violence and they say they came at them first and they were just trying to repel an assault, then that is self-defense under Virginia law. Often these cases arise from mutual combat or mutual assault and it is elevated to a point where the other person decides they need to call the police, but if the assault was mutual in its inception, then that can also be in the defense to domestic violence.

Self-Defense

Self-defense is self-defense whether referring to domestic violence or any other area of assaultive law but self-defense is the doctrine that a person is entitled to use a reasonable amount of force to repel an impending assault. A reasonable amount of force depends on the circumstances that exist at the time that the assault is claimed to have occurred. A reasonable amount of force is considered to be a matching amount of force that the person has threatened with so if somebody is trying to punch a person and he or she punches them instead, that is considered a reasonable amount of force.

Defense of Other

Defense of other is another doctrine under Virginia law that justifies an assault. The most common fact pattern that occurs is where the claim is made in the defense of others. For instance, if one spouse is physically abusing a child in the home and the other spouse uses force to get that parent to stop assaulting the child, then as long as the amount of force that was used to stop the parent from assaulting the child is considered reasonable then the court can find that the assault was justified under Virginia law by the doctrine of defense of others.

Benefits of a Lawyer

A local lawyer is always preferable because a local lawyer is going to know the tendencies of both the judge and the prosecutor who is going to be managing a person’s case when they go to court. Having somebody who is familiar with the courthouse, who knows the players, and understands how best to negotiate or talk to these people is going to be helpful, but a local attorney is going to have a certain level of credibility and respect that an outsider might not.

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