Tips To Fight Domestic Abuse Charges
Defending yourself against domestic abuse charges will not be easy. You will need to talk to your attorney, preferably a criminal defense one that has experience with your type of case. This will give you a chance at winning. But is there more you can do? The following tips should help you beat domestic abuse charges.
It's All About Credibility
To hurt the credibility of the accuser, you must have evidence. The following should help you gather up the right evidence for your attorney on your behalf:
- Write down your side of the story. Do so with dates and any other details that you remember. Be sure to do this as soon as you can while the event is still fresh in your mind.
- Contact any witness to the incident. Remember that you can use audio and video recording technology to record statements as long as the witness has granted you permission to record him or her. You are looking for contradictions in your accuser's statements.
- Medical records that show mental instability or evidence of erratic behavior. You might win points in your favor if you can prove that the accuser is prone to wild allegations and is generally disruptive. Your lawyer may be able to dig this kind of information up should you be unaware of it or have no access to your accuser's records.
- Evidence of drug use or intoxication can damage the value of your accuser's statements.
The aforementioned are just a few things that can help your case. But your attorney can find other weak points in your accuser's story and character.
Can You Establish Self Defense?
Another thing to consider is self defense. You will need statements from witnesses or any other evidence to prove this, but many states do recognize this possibility.
The only thing you have to worry about, should you go down this road, is the amount of force that you used when you assaulted the accuser. To prove this to a judge or jury, they must believe that you acted in a reasonable manner and did not take advantage. You should talk to your attorney about going down this road if you were simply defending yourself.
As you can see, there are a few things that you can do to fight a domestic abuse charge. Remember to talk to your criminal defense attorney about other strategies; he or she will have a specified plan of attack after hearing your side of the story.
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