Thank you for joining me. My name is LaSheena Williams, and I am a Maryland family law attorney. My firm helps our clients take control of out-of-control domestic situations. Today we will be discussing domestic violence and criminal cases in Maryland.
When a Domestic Violence and Criminal Case Coincide
Sometimes when you file a petition for protection, you may also file criminal charges when you’re seeking your protective order. Also, the court, whether it’s the commissioner, the district court judge, or even a circuit court judge may request that criminal charges also be filed against the perpetrator in your petition for protection. If you have both a domestic violence petition pending and you also have a criminal case pending related to your domestic violence petition, what happens at your protective order hearings can impact your criminal case. For example, if you currently have a domestic petition pending and criminal charges related to the domestic petition pending there are a couple of things that could come out of your protective order filing. If the respondent in the protective order case, it consents to the entry of a protective order or if there’s no findings of fact in your petition for protection, you cannot necessarily use the testimony or evidence presented at that hearing in your criminal case because there’s no finding a fact. However, if there is a full-blown trial, there’s evidence presented, there’s testimony taken, even by the respondent, that transcript and that evidence and any findings of facts made by the court can be and will likely be used in the criminal charges pending against the respondent in your petition for protection.
Impact of Domestic Violence Petition on a Criminal Case
If you currently have a criminal case pending, it may impact your petition for protection there are a couple of things that will ultimately impact what’s going on in your petition for protection. First, there may be terms regarding release conditions or probation conditions that are outlined in your criminal case that cannot necessarily be abrogated in your final protection. Whether the opposing party agrees to the entry of that order or whether a judge enters it, the requirements under the criminal case will still stand regardless of any agreement that’s entered as long as those charges are pending. Another issue is if your respondent is inclined to testify at the petition for protection, the state’s attorney may use that testimony against them in the ongoing criminal case. So, it’s a very delicate situation and if you are currently a respondent in a petition for protection when you have criminal charges pending stemming from that initial petition, you may want to speak with an attorney about your options to make sure that you know what options you have available so that you can move forward.
Speak with a Lawyer to Learn More About your Options and Case Specific Considerations
Each case is different and the recommendation for each case varies based on the facts, based on the circumstances leading to someone filing for a petition for protection, also whether they’re petitioner in the protective order case filed criminal charges or police officers filed criminal charges. There are a few factors that go into kind of outlining the course of action you may want to choose that best fits your needs. It’s very important that you speak with an attorney, ideally an attorney familiar with domestic issues and criminal issues, so that you can know how both of those issues will impact your case so that you know what your options are.
If you have any questions about criminal cases and protective orders and how they intertwine or any other family related issues in Maryland, contact the Law Office of LaSheena M. Williams at (301) 778 – 9950 or leave an online request for a consultation.
