CCD Law Crary & Domanico, P.S., of Spokane, defends clients faced with charges involving protection order violations. In some cases, suspects are falsely reported in retaliation over a dispute with a loved one. Investigators can also overlook key facts and wrongly accuse those in the middle of a difficult domestic violence case.
We make sure judges and juries get all of the facts and hear your side of things before they deliver their verdicts. Contact our Spokane domestic violence lawyers for a case review with a real, local lawyer, to determine how to best defend your rights.
How Can a Lawyer Help Me If I’m Accused of Violating a Protection Order?
Your Spokane Protection Order Lawyer fully investigates a protection order incident. Your lawyer would examine the way law enforcement officers handled an investigation. The motivations of the petitioner would also be put under a microscope.
With a strong handle on the complex legal process in protection order cases, your lawyer would make sure investigators and a judge and jury were presented with all the facts. If punishment is handed down, your attorney makes sure penalties don’t get excessive and reach beyond what Washington state law allows.
The victims of domestic violence and other forms of physical and emotional assaults must get help and support in situations that present real danger. Unfortunately, relationships between people in a romantic relationship or who were in a former relationship, and living together, or formerly living together, can be complex. And in some cases, one party in a relationship can be falsely accused of representing a threat to the other party.
These types of allegations and the filing of a protection order can harm the reputation and standing of those who stand accused. Alleged violators of a protection order can have a much harder time getting fair treatment in divorce proceedings and child custody hearings. They’ll encounter more obstacles to clearing their name of domestic violence charges. Having strong legal protection is crucial to the freedom of suspects and for when they attempt to piece their lives back together later.
What Is a Protection Order in Washington?
A protection order is a court order that prevents one party from contacting another party and often the second party’s close family members. These orders can be either civil or criminal. A protection order is a type of restraining order.
Protection orders can involve several different types of safeguards such as protection from those accused of harassment, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
These are just a few of the safeguards a protection order may provide according to The Revised Code of Washington RCW 7.105.310:
“1. (a) Restrain the respondent from committing any of the following acts against the petitioner and other persons protected by the order: Domestic violence; nonconsensual sexual conduct or nonconsensual sexual penetration; sexual abuse; stalking; acts of abandonment, abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation against a vulnerable adult; and unlawful harassment;
(b) Restrain the respondent from making any attempts to have contact, including nonphysical contact, with the petitioner or the petitioner’s family or household members who are minors or other members of the petitioner’s household, either directly, indirectly, or through third parties regardless of whether those third parties know of the order;”
A protection order issued in Spokane may also prevent suspects from visiting the alleged victim’s house or place of work. Respondents (the accused) may have to submit to mental health or chemical dependency evaluation and enter a domestic violence treatment program. Respondents could lose their right to bear arms.
These are all extreme obstacles to suspects who haven’t been proven guilty of anything. Those accused of violating a protection order require skilled legal representatives to protect their rights to see their children, to live in their homes, and to rebuild their lives as soon as possible.
What Are the Types of Protection Orders in Washington?
There are several types of protection orders a Washington court can grant. The time limits on these orders also differ. Some may be in place while civil or criminal issues are resolved. That might be months or a year or more. In extreme cases, a protection order may be permanent.
These are just some examples of the types of Protection Orders Spokane residents may find themselves facing:
- Domestic Violence Order of Protection: Domestic violence suspects may be barred from contacting spouses or partners, or ex-spouses or partners, or those they’ve had a romantic relationship with. People they’ve lived with or used to live with can also file (DV) charges. A civil protection order may be granted or a “no contact order” could be issued while criminal proceedings are underway. You can find more information on our page about what to do if you are facing Domestic Violence charges.
- Harassment Order of Protection: Prevents actions meant to annoy or harass the victim. This can include messages sent over a cell phone.
- Stalking Order of Protection: An order to stop someone from harassing a victim. This could include an act meant to cause a victim fear or to intimidate the victim.
- Sexual Assault Order of Protection: Protection from someone who engaged in non-consensual sexual contact. This can apply to a family member, someone the victim lives with, or someone outside the home.
Your CCD Law attorney would stand by your side in any protection order hearing to make sure you were treated fairly. The decisions made in these hearings can affect your current quality of life and make it easier to convict you of criminal acts in the future. Your lawyer goes into any hearing or trial with a strong case that tells your side of what happened and backs your account with powerful evidence.
What Types of Complications Can a Protection Order Violation Cause for Me?
If you are accused of violating an order of protection, it’s critical to dispute those allegations with every option you have. That should include backing your case with a skilled Spokane Protection Order Lawyer.
Being found guilty of a violation will affect your ability to seek fair treatment in future hearings and trials. The effects might also linger for years and affect your ability to rebuild your life.
These are just a few of the extremely negative effects your CCD Law representative helps you fight to avoid:
- Affect your ability to visit and communicate with your children
- Harm your case to receive custody of children
- Affect your chances of staying in your family home
- Affect your standing when negotiating the terms of a divorce
- Affect your ability to possess firearms
- Affect your ability to get a job
- Affect your ability to rent a house or make other purchases
- Pave the way for your ex-spouse or partner to file criminal charges against you later
Some protection orders are sought inappropriately and are used to harass an ex-spouse, ex-boyfriend, or ex-girlfriend. They might be used to ruin someone’s credibility before a divorce or child custody hearing. There are cases in which someone files a baseless protection order simply for revenge or out of spite.
Your lawyer closely examines and collects all evidence to show who you really are and to illuminate what really happened in any incident in question. In some cases, a judge or jury may rule against you, but your attorney is still extremely valuable when fighting to keep the punishment you face reasonable and legally appropriate.
Contact a Spokane Protection Order Lawyer Today
The effectiveness of your legal defense can make an enormous difference in the outcome of your case. CCD Law has been defending clients in Eastern Washington for over 40 years. We help clients seek justice and rebuild their lives after facing serious and life-altering charges involving protection order violation accusations. We seek the restoration of people’s lives and resolutions for families if possible.
Contact us as soon as possible to schedule a confidential case consultation with a real Spokane attorney. The fact that these allegations were made doesn’t make you guilty. We can help you identify the fastest route to clearing your name and resolving accusations and criminal charges.
