Posts Categorized Domestic Assault

The Consequences of Domestic Abuse in Minnesota

In Minnesota, domestic abuse is taken very seriously and can result in both criminal charges and civil consequences.  Courts and prosecutors have all experienced a case where a domestic abuser has committed multiple offenses against the same person, and most can tell you a story about an actual domestic abuse case that resulted in homicide.  This makes them often hesitant to make good plea offers and negotiate appropriately, or take evidence of innocence seriously.  The specific penalties can vary depending on the circumstances of the case, the severity of the offense, and the defendant’s prior criminal history. Here are some general consequences: Criminal Penalties: Domestic assault can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony in Minnesota, depending on circumstances.  A misdemeanor carries penalties of up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. A felony domestic assault, on the other hand, can lead to more significant penalties, including imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. Restraining Orders: Anyone who claims domestic abuse can seek a restraining order or an order for protection in a separate court proceeding. These orders restrict the accused from contacting or approaching the alleged victim, and may include other provisions to restrict your interaction with them or their home or business.   Our office has LOTS of experience challenging the order for protection.  Domestic abuse is not a hard allegation to manufacture against innocent people, and in an order for protection or harassment restraining order, they don’t need police or a lawyer to instantly restrict you from coming near them, or sometimes even your own home or children if you live with the accuser, or have children with them.  A single paper filed with a court can result in such restrictions in a matter of a few days. Civil Consequences: In addition to criminal penalties, a person accused of domestic abuse in Minnesota may face civil consequences such as loss of child custody or visitation rights, loss of Second Amendment rights, and difficulty in finding employment or housing due to a criminal record. When seeking a lawyer, it’s essential to find an experienced criminal defense attorney who has experience in domestic abuse accusations.  Alex DeMarco has such experience , and a strong understanding of Minnesota’s laws, courtroom procedures, and the ability to effectively advocate for their clients. You should call an attorney as soon as possible to discuss your case. The Consequences of Domestic Abuse in Minnesota was last modified: June 29th, 2023 by Alex DeMarco

How much does a criminal defense lawyer cost?

Criminal law in Minnesota is different from other areas of law, and that is important when considering who to hire as your criminal defense lawyer.  When you seek a lawyer for personal injury, or wrongful termination, employment issues, or other lawsuits, the question is most often “do I have a case?”  Your consultation involves a fact exploration to decide if you have a good case to begin litigation.  Attorneys often are paid out of settlement or damage, so their fee is dependent on the outcome When you are charged with a criminal offense,  and consult with a criminal defense lawyer, circumstances are very different.  It means there is already a case, and it has a court file number, and the State has a lawyer, and that means you need one too.  You are facing the most serious consequences a government can impose.  Jail.  Prison.  The collateral consequences of employment, licenses, etc. are also on the line. A good criminal defense lawyer charges flat fees.  That means, you pay them immediately, and they handle the case from the beginning to end, so you are paying in advance for future work.  That doesn’t mean the fee isn’t refundable.  It simply means that you are giving you criminal defense lawyer security to handle the entire case because they have to stick to it.  While this seems perhaps strange or risky, there is a reason behind it.  A criminal defense attorney does not need to determine whether litigation can be started.  It already has, and there is a lot of work to do quickly.  And if you are facing a criminal charge, the outcome is either (1) Conviction, (2) acquittal, (3) dismissal (4) plea to lesser charge.  Negotiating these outcomes, or trying a case to a jury, is time consuming, and requires a criminal defense lawyer with a reputation for jury trials.  The trouble of a jury trial, and the chances of the State to win or lose, really drive the result of a case.  Even if a trial doesn’t happen, aggressive representation, negotiation, and motion practice, and the clear threat of trial,  are all necessary for a criminal defense lawyer to achieve the optimal result.  A common mantra at The Law Office of Alex DeMarco is “a good lawyer prepares to beat a case, prepares for trial, but also prepares to lose.”  A savvy defense lawyer must always be prepared for trial, but must also be prepared for sentencing if they lose.  If a case cannot be won, sentencing itself is also an important phase that can make the difference between sitting in a cage, and staying free. The other reason for flat fees is that a criminal defense attorney cannot charge a fee for a specific outcome, and cannot withdraw from the case without a motion hearing before the court.  This is because criminal law involves constitutional rights, and the very freedom of a person.  So a criminal defense lawyer is very much bound to you until the very end of the… Read more {+}

Domestic Assault Law Changes in August

New domestic assault laws make arrest easier, dismissal harder On August 1, 2014, a new law goes into affect which broadens the basis on which a person may be arrested and charged with domestic assault.  It now includes provisions for misdemeanor arrest, and expands the time frame to 72 hours.  If you are charged with domestic assault, or someone you know has just been arrested for domestic assault, here’s why you need to involve a criminal defense attorney immediately. The politics of domestic assault continue to ignore the rights of the accused and discourage investigation and common sense. It is often politically incorrect to doubt the words of an accuser, particularly a woman Sadly, however, we have created a system that does provide incentive to manufacture domestic assault allegations, and for the accuser to stick to their false story.  As discussed previously at Minnesota Legal Defense, The system also makes it extremely difficult for the accuser to “drop charges” so to speak.  There are a number of attributes which make domestic assault so difficult from the very beginning:   (1) The speed with which various mechanisms move when accusations are made (2) The immediate isolation of the accused. (3) The affects on pending or soon to be initiated family law proceedings. (4) The ability of the accuser to continue to manufacture evidence at trial. From the moment 911 is called, a very fast process begins, and you’re going to jail. Law enforcement and prosecuting authorities take domestic assault very seriously, as well they should. According to a 2012 Domestic Violence Report citing to the 2010 Minnesota Crime Victim Survey, as many as 201,814 adults may have experienced domestic violence in 2010. Besides the wrongfulness of this act, the other concern of law enforcement is that perpetrators of domestic violence may go on to harm their victims repeatedly. Abusive relationships have been known to escalate quickly. No officer wants to be the one that did not respond to a 911 call only to find a murder has occurred. For this reason, police respond swiftly to domestic assault calls. The person that calls 911 often has a distinct advantage in that they will tell the first version of events. At that point, invariably, officers end up subject to a phenomenon known as confirmation bias. When they arrive on scene, they will be looking for evidence which confirms the facts of the initial call. The caller will also often be the first person interviewed at the scene, further securing this bias. From there, they will interview the suspect, and selectively record and put in their reports those portions of the story that confirm the accuser’s version of events. It’s for this reason that it is important to not talk to the police. You may think that you’re helping yourself and that you can prove your innocence, but the officer is most often looking for you to say the magic words that confirm any part of the accuser’s story. Frankly, any confirmation that you… Read more {+}

Domestic Assault: Why Victims Don’t Control Charges

The Victim Has No Control Alex De Marco, Domestic Assault Defense Attorney Domestic assault is probably the second most common crime in Minnesota that carries with it actual consequences, next to DWI.  That is because, just like DWI, a person can be arrested for DWI at the scene on virtually no real evidence whatsoever.  It is not an exaggeration to say if your significant other or family member says you struck them, or even placed them in fear of being injured, that is absolutely all it takes to be arrested.  There are numerous organizations and “battered women shelters” which receive a combination of public and private money, and they have combined with various activist organizations to “crack down” on domestic assault.  This has resulted in unintended consequences. One of those consequences is that, even if the alleged victim does not want to “press charges”, even if she changes her story or admits she lied, the charges do not get dismissed on that statement.  Too often our law firm is told “she doesn’t want to press charges so this is an easy win.”  Not as easy as you think.  The phrase “press charges” is largely the result of television shows, and a different time in law when people actually had some control over what their police force did in their name.  It is very true that some victims of domestic abuse do not not report every incident of assault, and face a great deal of psychological pain and distortion if they are in such a relationship.  It is fashionable to talk about this as “battered women syndrome” or some similar description.  The politics of domestic assault have brought this disorder to light with the best of intentions.  For centuries women lived in shadows of submission and abuse with no redress for their pain, and no just punishment for their abuser.    Contrary to what is often reported, however, such a “syndrome” is an abrogation from the norm, and is not widespread or common to every or even most victims of domestic abuse.  Domestic abuse often causes divorces or separation in a short period of time, and after all it is the natural instinct of any person assaulted to fight back and/or contact authorities after the event.  However, the focus on this unique phenomenon, syndromes and disorders that cause victims to languish in silence for years and years, has led to a an erroneous assumption that every person who calls the police and tells one story, and then changes it, is lying because they are terrified of their abuser, or suffer from some “syndrome.”  This presumption has resulted in a process that prevents the central function of investigation and prosecution:  to seek the truth. We like to think that once an accusation has been made, someone who has lied or misunderstood a perceived incident can come forth and tell THE TRUTH, and spare the accused the very real consequences of criminal prosecution.  Unfortunately, the tactics of many prosecuting authorities, officers, and even… Read more {+}