Walk It Through: The Domestic Call
A shove in the kitchen, a bruise, an arrest the victim did not ask for, and the guns that have to go.
During an argument, one partner shoves the other into a counter, leaving a bruise. A neighbor calls the police.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One assault between partners and one order. A district court order outside the family, custody of children and the criminal case itself 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.
- RecognizanceA promise to appear and keep the peace, given with sufficient surety in a sum the process names or a justice deems reasonable, on which a person held is released.
- Telephone call after an arrestThe use of a telephone to reach a lawyer or arrange bail, given as soon as practicable and within one hour of detention, in a way that keeps the call confidential.
- Temporary detentionHolding a person reasonably suspected of a crime to ask a name, address, business and destination. It may not exceed two hours and is not recorded as an arrest.
- Batterer's intervention programA program a person convicted of a domestic violence crime attends at their own expense, ordered as a condition of probation, with a $125 assessment.
- Domestic abuseCausing or attempting physical harm, placing someone in fear of serious harm, or forced sexual relations, between family members or certain dating partners.
- Felony assaultAn assault with a dangerous weapon, acid, a dangerous substance or fire, or one causing serious bodily injury, punished by up to twenty years where serious injury results.
- Mandatory arrestThe rule that an officer at a domestic call arrests the person believed responsible for an assault with injury, a felony assault, a threat of serious harm, or a known order violation.
- Protective orderA family court order against domestic abuse, for a fixed period of no more than three years, which can order the defendant out of the home and firearms surrendered.
- Serious bodily injuryInjury that creates a substantial risk of death, causes lasting loss or impairment of a body part or organ, or serious permanent disfigurement.
- Temporary order without noticeAn order made before the other side is heard, on sworn facts of immediate harm, lasting no more than twenty-one days unless extended.