WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU ARE CHARGED WITH VIOLATION OF A PROTECTIVE ORDER?
Don’t Talk To The Police.If you are accused of a violation of protective order, the police are going to want to “get your side of the story.” They may stop by your home or call you on the phone to give you a chance to explain what happened. Don’t fall for this. The police have no intention of finding evidence to show that you did nothing wrong. They are trying to get you to admit to a technical violation of the law. Keep your mouth shut regardless of if you broke the law or not. The police are specially trained to extract information out of you that helps prove the case against you. Don’t give them the chance. Admit nothing.
Don’t Voluntarily Let The Police Look At Your Phone.If the allegation is that you called, text, emailed, facebooked, tweeted or anything else you can do from your phone, the police will want to search your phone or look at your phone. Regardless of your guilt or innocence do not let the police look at your phone. The police may find evidence of the crime or they may find evidence of another crime. If you hand over your phone you may not get it back. If a police officer wants to look at your phone tell the officer to get a warrant. If you authorize or let an officer look at your phone you are giving consent and waiving your fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Just say no, don’t make an officer’s job of discovering evidence any easier.
Don’t Call, Text, Email Or Communicate With The Alleged Victim.This person is who got you in trouble in the first place why would you want to keep communicating with them? You can be assured if you communicate with someone after you have been charged with violation of a protective order, things are going to escalate. Each and every violation of the judge’s order can land you a new charge.
Don’t Call The Police Without First Talking To A Lawyer Even To Leave A Message.Depending on the allegation against you, even denying the allegation may serve as proof against you. If the victim claims that you left them a message but didn’t identify yourself in the message they may turn that message over to the officer as evidence against you. The police/State may not have enough to charge you because you didn’t identify yourself in the message, but the second you talk to the officer he will almost surely say that your voice matched the voice left on the message. All of a sudden you just inadvertently provided evidence to the officer to help confirm your identity.
Don’t Talk With Anyone Other Than A Lawyer About Your Case.You have the right to remain silent. Use it. If you confide in someone the details of your case and that person isn’t a lawyer, you are hurting your case. If the prosecution finds out that someone else has details of your criminal conduct they can force that person to come into court and make them testify about the information that you told them. The last thing you want is a “friend” or acquaintance coming into court to testify about you confessing to a crime. If you did something wrong, keep it between you and your lawyer.
Talk To A Criminal Defense Lawyer As Soon As Possible.If you are charged with violation of protective order talk to a criminal defense lawyer. Many times, violation of protective order cases are able to be successfully defended. Proving these types of cases can be difficult under the right situation.
If you do not have a defensible case or are unwilling to defend the case your attorney can negotiate on your behalf to try to mitigate the damages. Often times a respected criminal defense lawyer can work out something with a prosecutor to avoid a conviction on your record and keep you out of jail.
Listen To Your Lawyer.Your lawyer is a professional, you hired him or her for a reason. Your lawyer should have experience with the court, judge and the prosecutor that is working on your case. If you don’t listen to your lawyer you will only make things more difficult on yourself. If you follow your lawyer’s advice and counsel your case will go a lot easier and you will receive a better outcome. If you find yourself charged with violating of a protection order, contact the experienced criminal defense lawyers at Roth Davies, LLC. We help clients with criminal cases in Johnson County and all municipalities within Johnson County.