Domestic violence charges are serious. In addition to causing potentially irreparable harm to your reputation, these charges can carry life-altering consequences like enhanced sentencing, jail time, restrictions on your firearm rights, and more.
If you’ve been charged with domestic violence, it’s crucial that you secure experienced legal representation. At Maciolek Law Group, we have a long track record of successfully defending our clients against domestic violence charges.
Our team takes the time to look closely at your case and formulate a detailed defense. We understand that each client’s case is unique and that everyone deserves a unique and personalized defense strategy.
Most people have a general understanding of what constitutes domestic violence (also called domestic abuse). However, if you’re facing charges of domestic violence in Wisconsin, it’s important to understand how exactly Wisconsin defines this crime.
Domestic abuse may include the following actions:
It’s important to understand that domestic violence is an offense that occurs between two adults. Child abuse is a separate charge.
In many states, an officer will not arrest an aggressor if the other partner asks them not to. However, Wisconsin law forbids officers to make arrest decisions based on the victim’s willingness to cooperate with the prosecution of the aggressor.
In general, these mandatory arrest laws are a good thing. Many victims are hesitant to cooperate with prosecution because they fear retaliation. However, if the officer declines to arrest the clear aggressor, they leave the victim in danger and enable the abuser to continue with no consequences.
However, mandatory arrest laws also have their downsides. If officers are having trouble determining which party was the aggressor, there’s a possibility that the wrong party will be arrested.
That simply adds insult to injury for domestic violence victims. If you’ve been arrested despite being a victim, it’s that much more important to find a competent domestic violence defense attorney as fast as you can.
In order to protect victims, the laws surrounding the initial arrest and release of an alleged domestic abuser are different from those regarding arrests for other crimes.
First, if you’ve been arrested for domestic abuse, you may not be immediately released from whatever facility you’ve landed in, such as the City-County Building Jail on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. In order for you to be released from custody, one of the following must happen:
After your arrest, you legally must have no contact with your alleged victim for 72 hours. That may not sound like much, but depending on your living situation, it can be disruptive.
For instance, if you live with the alleged victim, you must find somewhere else to stay for that 72 hours, like a friend’s house or the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Madison. You likely will not be able to return home to get anything you need during that time. However, in some cases, courts will grant a waiver of this requirement.
Notably, even before you’ve been convicted, you can face very serious penalties for violating post-arrest conditions. If you have any contact whatsoever with the alleged victim during that 72-hour period, you may have to spend up to nine months in jail, pay a fine of $10,000, or both.
Many people refer to domestic violence as a crime in itself, and some states do treat it this way. However, in Wisconsin, domestic violence isn’t its own offense; it’s what’s known as an “enhancer.”
This means that you can’t be charged with domestic abuse unless you are also being charged with another crime. If you are convicted of that crime, the fact that it was committed in a domestic context means your sentence will be increased.
Facing any kind of criminal charge can be disorienting, but you can preserve your chances of acquittal by doing the following:
At Maciolek Law Group, we believe that regardless of your situation, you deserve a strong, personalized defense. Our attorneys have worked hard to build a reputation around our skill, experience, and tenacity. If you’ve been charged with domestic violence, let us put those qualities to work for you.
