Domestic Violence Defense Involves the Decision Whether to Have a Trial or Not. Michigan Domestic Violence Defense Attorney Brian J. Prain Explains...
If you're facing a Michigan Domestic Violence charge (properly called Michigan Domestic Assault charge), after your Arraignment you need to immediately start planning your Domestic Violence defense. I always tell clients that planning a Domestic Violence defense is like standing at a fork in the road; you have an absolute right to have the State prove that you are guilty of the Michigan Domestic Violence charge beyond any and all reasonable doubt, but you can also take a plea of guilty or no contest if you want.
Even if you feel you may have done something "wrong," the real question is whether the State has sufficient admissible evidence to prove it. When you're facing up to 93 days in Jail, there's a big difference between coming to terms with whatever happened and planning a successful Domestic Violence defense.
If you are reading this article, you should call Prain Law, PLLC instead at (248) 731-4543 and have this explained by a Domestic Violence Defense lawyer. When deciding whether to take your Michigan Domestic Violence case to Trial or not, here is a non-inclusive list of things to consider:
- A Trial is YOUR right as part of your Domestic Violence defense. It's easy to think of it as a scary thing to be avoided, but remember that our founding fathers gave us that right so that it would take more than just someone saying "he did it" to compromise your freedom and future.
- If you decide not to have a Trial (as over 90% of Domestic Violence defendants do), you will likely have to plead Guilty or No Contest to either Domestic Violence or some other reduced charge, if the strength of your case and your Domestic Violence defense supports it. Forget what other lawyers may be saying about getting your DV charge "dismissed." There are ways to make this happen, but they do NOT include "she doesn't want to press charges anymore," etc. [click here for my article about why this doesn't work] As Mickey Haller says in The Lincoln Lawyer, "Don't kid yourself, the State's not gonna dismiss those charges." In this day and age, a "dismissal" is just not a reasonable expectation to plan a Domestic Violence defense around.
- In certain cases, a Trial may only be your only hope of being completely exonerated and avoid punishment for something you didn't do.
- If you plead rather than go to Trial, you will be on Probation, which may include weekly "batterer's awareness" meetings, where you will be expected to admit that you are a batterer and that you have a problem. If not, you could face Jail for Probation Violation.
- THIS LIST COULD GO ON FOREVER, but the bottom-line is this: your decision to go to Trial in your Domestic Violence defense, and your chances of success will be a product of: 1) the strength of the facts of your case; 2) the amount of work and preparation you (yes, you) and your Domestic Violence Defense attorney put into your case; and 3) the money and other resources you are able and willing to invest in your Domestic Violence defense.