Domestic violence has become increasingly problematic across the country and California is certainly no exception. Courts throughout the state have become stricter with intimate partner abuse and have developed a whole set of specialized courts for both civil and criminal domestic violence cases. These courts have a common goal of ensuring the victim’s safety and increasing the abuser’s accountability.

While the intention of these courts seems admirable, the truth is that they are likely to believe the victim’s complete story and throw the book at the accused. This reality makes it even more important for the accused to hire an experienced defense lawyer who can keep the case in a traditional criminal court if possible, or who is at least familiar with D.V. courts and knows how to deal with intricacies of this potentially bias system.

Domestic violence courts deal with cases involving intimate partners. Intimate partners include people who are married, divorced, cohabitating, or dating. They may have children in common and be heterosexual or homosexual.

There are several domestic violence charges that these California domestic violence courts address: battery against an intimate partner (also known as spousal abuse), sexual battery, intimidating an intimate partner, and willful infliction of injury on an intimate partner.

Special judges are assigned to hear these domestic abuse cases. Domestic violence courts try to gather all relevant information on the family members appearing in court so that the judge has a complete understanding of all the issues presented. Staff members educate the family members on child support and safety issues. Counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, housing assistance, and referrals to social services are a few of the many resources offered to the family members. These courts sometimes make referrals for job training, child-care, mental health counseling, emergency medical services, temporary shelter, and may assign an advocate for the abused. They are very helpful to the victims and equally ruthless to the offenders.

Domestic violence courts focus on holding the offender accountable and monitor the progress of all family members much more closely than a traditional court. They may also intervene when they feel it is in the victim’s best interest. The court conducts frequent periodic reviews, imposes heavy sanctions for noncompliance with its orders, and coordinates with probation and batterer intervention programs to obtain any information that may indicate inappropriate behavior by the defendant. Also, domestic violence court judges have been trained to have an increased level of awareness on the impact and harm to children exposed to domestic violence. They may also be involved with any child custody issues.

While not a good scenario for a defendant, having the case sent to a California domestic violence court does not mean that the situation is hopeless. The key to a successful defense is securing an experienced criminal defense lawyer who is familiar with these types of courts. Hiring a skilled, knowledgeable attorney from the Kavinoky Law Firm will help ensure that a defendant avoids the typical bias that the domestic violence courts hold against accused persons. The attorney knows how to argue all possible defenses, refute or neutralize any harmful evidence, and make sure that the judge and jury hear the defendant’s side of the story and not blindly listen to the victim.

Domestic violence convictions can entail harsh penalties, ranging from heavy fines and prison time, to having one’s children removed from his or her home. To prevent these consequences, contact an attorney from the Kavinoky Law Firm today and work on returning life back to normal.