Domestic assault is an intense charge that brings with it serious results. Many individuals facing domestic violence charges have had exceptionally limited to nonexistent experience with the criminal justice system in Virginia. Also, thus, how to drop assault and battery charges in VA turns into a complicated question to reply.
What does Domestic Assault mean in Virginia?
In Virginia, you can be convicted of domestic assault when two primary actualities are established:
1) The complainant against you is a companion, previous life partner, family unit or family part; and
2) You either:
Willingly made physical contact with the complainant, without legal justification, in an angry, vengeful, or rude manner; or
You have committed an act directed towards harming the complainant with the ability to accomplish that; or
You have committed an act meaning to place the complainant in harm or fear of harm
The definition raises a number of critical points. First, there is no requirement that physical mischief or injury be inflicted to be convicted of domestic assault. Or maybe, unimportant touching of the complainant in an inappropriate way might be sufficient. That implies a push, slap, or shove can be considered domestic assault. Regardless of whether these actions are committed during the setting of a shared contention, it is possible to be convicted.
Additionally, you aren’t required to have contacted the other individual if you had the intent to hurt them when you made a move. For instance, throwing a question towards a man, and not really having contact with them, might be sufficient. In this way, the limit for being convicted of domestic violence is lower than generally believed.
Consequences of a Domestic Assault or Violence Conviction
Domestic assault is a Class I Misdemeanor in Virginia. A Class I Misdemeanor is an offense for which you can be incarcerated up to a year, receive a fine of up to $2,500.00, or both. While these are maximums, the real jail time and fine you receive relies upon the underlying certainties of the case, your record, and different variables.
A domestic assault conviction carries additional outcomes. Firstly, persons convicted of a domestic violence charge are prohibited by government law from owning firearms. Unmistakably, individuals in law requirement, security, or military will have serious issues if convicted of domestic assault.
Will the Charges Be Dropped If the Complainant Does Not Want You to be convicted?
Numerous charged with domestic assault have the mistaken belief that in light of the fact that the complainant needs a charge to be dropped, it will in actuality be dropped. Be that as it may, you may have a reality check if you depend on this belief while going to court. When you are charged with a domestic assault in Virginia, the case is indicted by the Commonwealth Attorney. While the complainant is spoken to by the Commonwealth Attorney, the Commonwealth Attorney additionally speaks for the community all in all. Intermittently the Commonwealth Attorney will compel prosecution despite the complainant’s desire to drop the case.
In a few circumstances, the Commonwealth Attorney can urge the complainant to testify by the danger of contempt of court. Contempt of court implies that a man has violated a court arrange, which would for this situation, would fail to answer questions postured to them during the trial. Be that as it may, this is sometimes difficult from the Commonwealth Attorney’s perspective, and, in numerous circumstances, a complainant can plead the Fifth Amendment.
In cases in which the Commonwealth Attorney can’t power or maybe might not have any desire to drive the complainant to testify, the Commonwealth Attorney may look for a “victimless prosecution.” Victimless prosecutions happen when the Commonwealth Attorney prosecutes a domestic assault without testimony from the complainant.
Given this, you should be definitely mindful that regardless of whether your complainant does not look for prosecution, you can’t quietly sit back and expect your case will be dismissed.