Philadelphia Attorney for Quarantine Domestic Violence Arrests
Domestic violence is a serious issue and physical fights between cohabitants are a common cause of police visits to homes. However, during the current coronavirus quarantine, domestic violence arrests have seen a huge uptick. With the citizens of Philadelphia under mandatory stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the disease, people are spending much more time in close quarters to one another than they are used to. In this type of stressful environment, people may be more inclined to make false reports that could lead to your arrest. The last place you want to be right now is in an overcrowded, dirty jail waiting for weeks for your case to be heard.
At The Law Offices of Lloyd Long, our Philadelphia attorneys for quarantine domestic violent arrests have the experience necessary to get you released from jail quickly during this time of great uncertainty. We will leave no stone unturned in fighting to get your domestic violence charges dismissed or downgraded and your case brought to a positive resolution. Call us today at (215) 302-0171 for a free consultation.
How Domestic Abuse Cases Work in Philadelphia
The terms “domestic violence” or “domestic abuse” do not refer to specific, individual crimes. Rather, they refer to a range of offenses, which can be violent, non-violent, or sexual in nature, but have one thing in common: they were committed by a person with a special or close relationship to the alleged victim. So while the charge would be something like assault, the way the case is handled will differ if the alleged victim of the assault was someone like a family member, romantic partner, or roommate. The laws can also sometimes apply to ex-partners or ex-roommates.
In domestic violence cases, police in Pennsylvania are permitted to make an arrest without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe violence occurred against a member of the household. You will be arrested and taken to the local police station for what is known as the booking process, where you will be fingerprinted and photographed and your biographical information will be collected. Then, you will wait in a holding cell until you can be videoconferenced into a courtroom for a preliminary arraignment and bail hearing in front of a judge.
At this hearing, the judge will determine whether you can be released on your own recognizance, released with conditions such as bail, or if you cannot be released and must be held in jail until the underlying matter is resolved. An experienced bail hearing defense attorney like those at The Law Offices of Lloyd Long will know how to make the best arguments to the judge that you should be released on little to no bail. Factors that the judge considers include the severity of the crime alleged, the defendant’s ties to the community, any prior criminal history, and whether anything indicates that the defendant might present a flight risk.
At this hearing, the judge will likely also issue a no-contact order with the victim as a condition of your release. This is formally referred to as a temporary order of protection, which can be converted into a permanent order of protection depending on the outcome of the case. This means that if you live with the person you are charged with committing domestic violence against, you cannot return home.
From there, our lawyers will begin to negotiate with the prosecutor for a deal where the charges are dismissed or downgraded. However, prosecutors in domestic violence cases may be unwilling to drop the charges without the victim’s consent. If necessary, our lawyers are ready to defend your innocence at trial.
How Domestic Violence Cases in Philadelphia Are Affected by Coronavirus
Just like nearly every other sector of our society, the Philadelphia court system has been greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Most in-person court proceedings have been rescheduled to a future date or postponed until such time as the court can return with proper social distancing protocols in place. No one is currently being required to report for jury duty and, as such, all jury trials are postponed. Some proceedings like bail hearings and requests for restraining orders continue to be conducted remotely over a videoconferencing system.
If you are currently facing domestic violence charges and are awaiting your trial, it is unlikely to occur anytime soon. If you do not already have a lawyer, you should get one as soon as possible. They can reach out to the prosecutor and the court to find out the status of your case and if anything can be done to resolve it at this time. The longer your case is not resolved, the longer you will have to seek alternative living arrangements if you lived with the alleged victim, which can be an even bigger problem during the current crisis.
If you are newly arrested on domestic violence charges, you need to contact an experienced domestic violence defense attorney like those at The Law Offices of Lloyd Long right away. You do not want to spend any more time that you have to in jail awaiting a bail hearing while the virus is spreading rampantly in the close quarters of jails. Our attorneys will do everything in our power to get you on videoconference with a judge and released from custody as quickly as possible. We will then work with the prosecutor to see if an agreement can be reached remotely to deal with the underlying charges.
Call Our Philadelphia Quarantine Domestic Violence Arrest Lawyers Today
The courts are not operating at full capacity due to the restrictions placed on them by the stay-at-home orders issued to combat the spread of the coronavirus. As such, being arrested for domestic violence during this crisis can be have even more dire consequences than usual. You need a skilled Philadelphia quarantine domestic violence arrest lawyer on your side making sure that your story is told. We will fight to get you released from custody quickly and begin work on your case. For a free consultation, call us today at (215) 302-0171.