Domestic Violence!?

We Fight your Legal Battles!

A person can get arrested and convicted for Domestic Violence for committing the slightest scratch if it occurred during an argument with his or her spouse. Domestic violence is commonly charged if the incident occurred between spouses, domestic partners, former spouses, children, or with individuals involved in a dating relationship. In California, police officers have the power to arrest you for domestic violence even if the alleged victim does not want to press charges.

We have the necessary experience to competently and professionally represent you or your family member against domestic violence allegations, including related charges such as false imprisonment, spousal battery, corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, child endangerment or child abuse. These may be charged as; Penal Code § § 273.5; § 273(a); § 273(d); and § 243(e)(1).

A well planned defense strategy can make a big difference in the case. On many occasions we have successful negotiated the case from a felony to a misdemeanor with house arrest in stead of actual jail time. Occasionally, our clients are victims of false accusations. The reasons for lying or for exaggerating to police can vary but the most common reasons include fear that they will get arrested, anger or to gain some advantage in a battle for visitation or custody over the children. Although, most people will not admit that they lied to police, with the assistance of an investigator, we have been very successful by winning the client's trial or by getting the case dismissed.

Below are three real cases that we fought for our clients. Although, each case is different and results will vary, these three cases represent the level of commitment and type of results that can be achieved with aggressive representation, and proper planning by an experienced and skilled trial attorney like John R. Rodriguez.

Not Guilty

Our client was accused by his live in girlfriend that he kicked her in the stomach, and punched her multiple times in the face. There were no marks on the face or body and we took the case to trial. Although the alleged victim repeated what she told the police we were able to show several lies and exaggerations that were not consistent with the allegations. The jury returned with a NOT GUILTY verdict and our client was happy to not only walk out of the courtroom but to also the walk out of her life.

Not Guilty

Our client was arrested for felony domestic violence and felony criminal threats to kill his girlfriend if she moved out and left him. The police claimed our client admitted he would find her if she left and kill her and himself. The prosecution would not compromise and felt they had a strong case. Our client assert his rights to a jury trial and after two days of aggressive cross examination of the police office we gradually were successful at attacking his testimony, the testimony of the ex-girlfriend and sufficiently weaken their credibility. The jury deliberated for about three hours and returned with a NOT GUILTY verdict. Our client said he was very nervous at the beginning because two felony convictions would ruin his military career, but, he quickly realized after watch us in action that he hired the right attorneys and had no doubts we would win the trial.

Dismissed

Our client was arrested after she and her husband got into an argument while she was on the telephone talking to her sister. Her husband was hungry and tired after getting home from work. He told the police that he grabbed the phone from her and claimed she attacked him by scratching both his arms from the elbow down to his wrist. After a careful assessment of the facts and a closer look at the direction of the scratches we convinced our client's husband to let our investigator interview him. He admitted that he had first grabbed her by her biceps and in anger squeezed both her arms so she would let go of the phone. The admission and location of the scratches gave us a strong self defense claim. We refused to negotiate and set the case for trial. The prosecution DISMISSED the charges the day before trial began.