Can a Domestic Violence Charge Be Reduced or Dismissed?

A domestic violence charge in Casa Grande, AZ can upend your life, and it’s essential that you fully understand all your options. A domestic violence attorney, when they get involved early, can make a real difference in how your case unfolds.

What Makes a Charge “Domestic Violence” in Casa Grande, AZ?

Domestic violence isn’t a standalone crime here in Arizona. It’s a designation that gets added to an underlying offense when certain relationships exist between you and the alleged victim. If someone assaults, threatens, harasses, or criminally damages another person, and if they and the other person are or were married, live or lived together, share a child, or ever had a romantic or sexual relationship, then it becomes “domestic violence” and there are enhanced penalties.

Arizona prosecutors treat domestic violence cases seriously. So much so that, even if the alleged victim later wants the case dropped or refuses to testify, they may go ahead with it.

Building a Defense to Seek a Dismissal

You have several avenues to push for outright dismissal. First, if police lacked probable cause for your arrest, or if they violated your rights during questioning or when they were searching and collecting evidence, your attorney can file a motion to suppress any evidence they found.

Inconsistent statements from the alleged victim or lack of physical proof that anything happened can also create reasonable doubt, and this could be strong enough for the prosecutor to drop the case. Self-defense is another angle of approach. Arizona law clearly states that justified self-defense does not count as domestic violence.

How a Domestic Violence Attorney Will Help You

An experienced domestic violence attorney knows how these cases play out and how best to approach them to get charges dropped or reduced. Your attorney will review every detail of the police report, look at any body camera footage, and review witness accounts to spot weaknesses the prosecutor might have overlooked. They can also file pretrial motions for dismissal if the charging document fails to meet the appropriate legal standards or if key evidence is either missing or inadmissible in court.

Charge Reductions Through Negotiation

Plea negotiations are common, and they can and often do result in reduced charges. For example, the prosecutor might agree to drop the DV designation or amend the offense to something like “disorderly conduct” without the domestic enhancer if your attorney can show that the evidence is thin and the case wouldn’t be a slam dunk in front of a jury.

This is very important, as, if you can remove that DV label, it allows you to avoid certain mandatory consequences that the judge must impose if you’re found guilty of a charge with the DV label, such as a longer probation period or restrictions on your firearm ownership rights.

The outcome of your domestic violence charge depends on taking quick, strategic action. Contact us at the Law Office of Vincent Mattioli in Casa Grande or Gilbert, AZ. Set up a free consultation, and let us help you take control of what happens next.

Tags: criminal law, domestic violence
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