This is a good question and I think half of the community realizes how brutal and vicious the prosecutors and judges can be in these domestic violence cases. The other half is completely oblivious to it.
I get clients that come in — and I've been doing this for 26 years — handled thousands of domestic violence cases across Los Angeles county. I've got people coming in and they have no idea what they've gotten themselves into.
They're trying to say that their spouse or loved on is going to drop the charges and so, that's going to be the end of it. They don't realize understand why they need an attorney.
Victim Can't Drop Domestic Violence Charges
What they don't realize is in approximately 90% of cases, the alleged victim or significant others tries to drop the charges or change their story. The prosecutors realize this. They don't care.
Domestic violence victims can't drop the charges against their abuser.
If they have evidence that somebody committed an act of domestic violence in Los Angeles, California. If there's an injury, if they've got body cam evidence, photographs of injuries, a statement of the alleged victim, somebody got hurt, they've got pictures of those injuries — they're going to file that case against the person.
So, you should start defending yourself right away and realize how serious it is.
Most criminal defense attorneys just try and say well, it's the OJ case. That's what did nor. That's what did it. That's what caused them to be so harsh. That's one little thread. Don't forget, the OJ case was back in 1994. That's many years ago.
Family and Violence Cases are Prosecuted Aggressively
That's when I first started practicing criminal defense and I did see a shift. But you have to realize, society itself has shifted and for some reason in Los Angeles, California, the authorities have chosen to be very harsh on spousal abuse, domestic violence — anything involving a family and any type of violence.
It started with the legislature. It's not just the police. It's not just the prosecutors and judges. The legislature passed all of these laws that you lose your weapon rights for ten years if you're convicted of anything related to domestic violation.
Los Angeles prosecutors will aggressively pursue domestic violence cases.
Now the judges, when somebody comes in for the first criminal appearance who has been charged with domestic violence, they're automatically going to put a protective order in place and order that person to stay away from the alleged victim.
Of course, part of the problem with that is the alleged victim is usually their significant other. Maybe that's the home where they stay. So, now the person cannot go back to their home.
I'm here to tell you that the reason these crimes are treated so severely is because of the OJ case, because of how society is today in Los Angeles, because of the legislature and because of how the police, prosecutors and judges view these cases.
Retain an Experienced Criminal Attorney
So, you'd better take it seriously. You better get a criminal defense attorney who has been down this road before and had successful. I've got some specific strategies depending on the circumstances, depending on your criminal record.
It will also depend on what happened in your particular case on exactly how we're going to handle the case, what strategies we're going to employ.
I urge you to pick up the phone. Make the call if you're looking for a seasoned domestic violence defense attorney in Los Angeles who gets results.
Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm located in Los Angeles County at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208 Encino, CA 91436. Contact us for a free case evaluation at (213) 542-0979.
