Walk It Through: The Call To The Apartment
A shouting match, officers at the door, an arrest, three days of no contact, and a petition.
Neighbors call police about shouting in an apartment. When officers arrive, both partners say the other started it, and one has a scratched arm.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One call and one arrest. Second and first degree charges, the protection order hearing, custody of children and firearms are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Arrest without a warrantAn arrest a peace officer may make on reasonable cause to believe the person committed a felony, or a misdemeanor where the person would otherwise escape, may cause injury, may destroy evidence, or committed it in the officer's presence.
- Predominant aggressorThe person an officer finds most responsible where domestic assault complaints come from both sides, weighing prior complaints, the injuries, the likelihood of future injury and justified self defense.
- Disturbing the peaceIntentionally disturbing the peace and quiet of any person, family or neighborhood, a Class III misdemeanor.
- Domestic abuse protection orderA court order for a victim of domestic abuse that can bar contact, remove the respondent from the residence, give temporary custody for up to ninety days, and bar firearms, for at least one year but not more than two years.
- Ex parteIssued without the other side being heard first. A protection order may be issued ex parte where the affidavit shows immediate danger, and it is a temporary order until a hearing or the time to request one passes.
- Intimate partnerA spouse or former spouse, a person with whom one has a child in common, or a person in a current or past dating relationship.
- Show cause hearingThe hearing where a respondent may show why a temporary protection order should not remain in effect, held within thirty days after a timely request.
- No-contact periodThe time after an arrest for domestic or sexual assault during which the arrested person may not contact the victim or go to the victim's residence, ending at 11:59 p.m. on the third day after the arrest.
- Dating relationshipFrequent, intimate associations primarily characterized by the expectation of affectional or sexual involvement.