Domestic violence allegations are taken very seriously by any court. Domestic violence means causing harm to any household member or attempting to injure any family member. Domestic violence applies to certain relationships, such as spouses, two people of the opposite gender who live together, or former spouses. Though domestic violence cases have increased nowadays, false allegations of domestic violence still occur. It is essential to hire a criminal lawyer in such situations, as a defense lawyer can use different domestic violence defense strategies to get rid of the charge.
What are the various strategies that are used in domestic violence defense?
The various defenses that a person can use to get rid of domestic violence or abuse charges are listed below.
- Lack of evidence: When a domestic abuse or violence case is filed, it is mainly based on what someone said or any witness statement. But there is no valid proof that proves the case to be true. Without any reasonable evidence, the prosecutor cannot confirm the crime. An experienced defense attorney can find flaws in the prosecution’s case and demonstrate to the judge that the trial has not reached its burden of proof.
- False accusations: In many cases, both women and men have falsely accused a partner or spouse of domestic abuse intentionally. During divorce or child custody, one person makes false accusations against their partner to win the proceedings.
- Self-defense: Self-defense or defending any family member is a common defense used in domestic violence cases. This means the person can be proven innocent if the attack was to save any family member or for self-defense. The accused person can also ask or plead for innocence if the victim was the initial attacker or possessed a violent past.
- It was all an accident: If the accused person acknowledges hitting the victim but claims it was an accident, then the attorney will reenact the incident to verify the accuracy of the claims. It simply means the accused person is not denying the act but saying it was done unintentionally.
- The victim was lying: The victim is likely lying. This is the most commonly used domestic violence defense. The victim can file accusations against the accused person out of resentment or out of personal grudges to discredit the person or destroy their career.
- The police make procedural or investigation errors: When a person is charged with domestic violence or abuse. Still, the police made many mistakes in their investigation process. Then the lawyer can prove the accused person innocent based on a few facts. A few examples of such attributes are when the police interrogated the person but forgot to record the statements. The police report does not correctly describe the incident or any other things.
Conclusion
The success of defending a domestic violence case largely depends on the communication level between the accused person and the hired criminal lawyer. To get help with domestic violence defense, make sure, to be honest, and open with the attorney for easy and faster movement of the case.