Domestic Violence Lawyers in Warren

If you’ve been accused of domestic violence, attorney Sean Logue is ready to stand up and defend you in court.

Facing domestic violence charges is overwhelming. These situations almost always leave everyone involved feeling angry and hurt, often toward a family member or close friend. Sean understands exactly how much pressure you’re dealing with right now. His goal is to ease that anger and worry by giving you strong, dedicated representation when you face the court.

Crimes of Domestic Violence

When police respond to a domestic violence call, they nearly always arrest at least one person before they leave. It doesn’t matter whether there’s solid evidence or none at all. Even if the alleged victim begs the officers not to press charges, the person accused will still be taken into custody and forced to deal with court hearings and a long list of other stressful demands. If you’re in this position, a skilled Warren criminal lawyer can help you understand what comes next.

These days, people accused of domestic violence face much tougher consequences than they once did. Lawmakers tightened these rules to keep victims safe, but the same changes can also trigger long-term, life-altering effects for the person accused.

So what does “domestic violence” actually mean? The term covers a wide range of actions and behaviors between people who live together or who are connected as family in some way. That includes sexual attacks, verbal attacks, and physical attacks. Sometimes a person is arrested over a single, isolated incident. Other times, the accused has a longer history of this kind of behavior.

Domestic Violence Defined

In Ohio, there are three things that can get you arrested and charged with domestic violence:

• You recklessly cause physical harm to someone in your family or household;
• You knowingly attempt to cause harm—or actually cause harm—to a household or family member; or
• You make a family or household member believe you’re about to physically harm them by using the threat of force.

Keep this in mind: you can be arrested for domestic violence even if you never laid a hand on the alleged victim. Because the law is broad, having a knowledgeable Warren OVI attorney review the details of your case early can make a real difference.

Domestic Violence Types

Domestic violence charges come in several different forms. Some of the most common ones include child abuse or neglect, domestic assault and battery, rape, sexual battery, menacing by stalking, and violating a protection order.

Domestic Violence Defenses

If you’ve been charged with domestic violence, don’t assume that simply telling your side of the story will make the charges disappear. All too often, the account given by the accused doesn’t line up with the version told by the alleged victim.

An experienced Warren criminal lawyer keeps a number of possible defenses in his toolbox, and he may be able to persuade the court to reduce or dismiss the charges entirely. A few of the most commonly used defenses in these cases appear below, though there are others not listed here:

• False allegations – It’s not unusual for a soon-to-be ex-spouse or partner to falsely accuse someone as a way to punish them, or to gain leverage in a related civil matter such as a divorce, child support, or child custody dispute.
• Self-defense – You have the right to protect yourself, even during a domestic violence situation. Courts are more willing to dismiss cases when the alleged victim’s own actions sparked the incident.
• Lack of evidence – When there’s no proof that domestic violence actually happened—no injuries and no other supporting evidence—the prosecutor simply won’t be able to secure a conviction.
• Accidental injury – This applies when the alleged victim was hurt through their own carelessness, or by some other cause that had nothing to do with the accused.
• Defense of others – This is when the accused did injure another family member, but only to shield someone else from harm.

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, a seasoned Warren OVI attorney can help you build the strongest possible defense.

Penalties for Domestic Violence

A judge weighs several factors before handing down a sentence in a domestic violence case. These include how severe the injuries were, the type of victim involved, the accused person’s prior criminal record, and the underlying charge itself.

Convictions can range anywhere from minor misdemeanors all the way up to first-degree felonies. Every one of them carries fines, starting at $150 and climbing as high as $20,000. With the exception of minor misdemeanors, each level also comes with jail time, beginning at 30 days and stretching as long as 11 years. With this much on the line, the right Warren criminal lawyer is essential.

Sean Logue of the Youngstown Criminal Law Group is the criminal defense attorney you want fighting for you when you’re accused of domestic violence. Contact with a Warren OVI attorney at (330) 791-8104 today.