Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“How does that work with domestic violence cases?”
Andrew Dósa – Criminal Defense Attorney – Alameda County, CA
“Well, the challenge with domestic violence cases is almost always greater in the situation where the couple wants to stay together.”
Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“Of course, that’s why I ask the question.”
Andrew Dósa – Criminal Defense Attorney – Alameda County, CA
“If they were breaking up, it would be a little bit more straightforward. The person who was the victim of domestic violence would know if there was a split in the relationship. That if they see this other individual within a distance, they can call the police right away. And local police are always going to have a record of it.
There are two types of stay-aways. There’s the typical stay-away, and then there’s what they call the CLETS stay-away. That’s where there is a statewide electronic system where information is inputted into the system, so any police officer anywhere in this state could get a report from the victim and that victim could say, ‘this person has a stay-away order’, and then the police officer could check the system and find out that indeed is the case. They would find it out if they stopped you for simply speeding. They would find out there is a stay-away order against you. So, that’s common.
If the couple wants to get back together again, then the courts will require, and different courts have different requirements, but all courts will require some sort of counseling for the victim.”
Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“So that’s going to be part of the terms and conditions of probation.”
Andrew Dósa – Criminal Defense Attorney – Alameda County, CA
“Correct. And then contact with the victim can only be renewed once the victim does a certain amount of counseling on their own to open up the communication. It used to be two sessions of counseling specifically addressed to that person as a victim, where they were being told, ‘now look, you are in a abusive relationship. Are you a person who gravitates toward abusive relationships, and if you are, then this is a vulnerability. You’re going to come back here, you’re going to be married to the same problem. Part of the problem is you.’ Not that they caused the violence, but that they get into relationships where there is violence. If they can’t stay away from that kind of relationship, that’s an issue. Most courts now seem to require at least six sessions of counseling.”
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