How can I quickly get a No Contact Order Dropped?

Question

My boyfriend & I were in our front yard yelling at each other and a guy drove by and called the police and said he punched me in the face. The police said there was no evidence of assault but since there was a witness the state picked it up. I have done everything to get a No Contact Order dropped and this happened July 9th. The judge only comes in once a week and keeps saying they haven't had time to look at the papers. This is ruining our lives and they just keep saying call back next week. Is there anything I can do to get this No Contact Order dropped? We are sickened over this.

Michael J. Breczinski · Answer

Keep going in front of the judge.

Gregory Casale · Answer

You asked for the no contact order and you can ask the judge to drop it. You cannot drop the charges, but as long as the judge believes that you are not being forced or coerced into dropping the No Contact order, he/she should drop it. 

Just go to the court that put the order in effect and ask the Clerk's office to pull the case and tell them what it is that you are seeking. They should be able to assist you. This is one thing that you do not need a lawyer for.

Jared Altman · Answer

Contact the DA and show up in court with photo ID and ask the judge to drop the stay away part of the offer.

Terry Nelson · Answer

You can't. You will have to appear at the hearing, and convince the judge to do so for good cause.

Jared Winter · Answer

Only a judge can remove the no contact order.  You'll just have to keep at it.

Dennis Roberts · Answer

Get his lawyer to get a court date and then show up and tell the judge, when he  asks, that you are not afraid of him and he never hit you, etc.

Edward Blum · Answer

Go into court and ask Judge to drop it.

Larry Dunn · Answer

There is no way to require a judge to "speed things up". A person may file   a formal motion to dissolved however you stated the judge already has  papers to  review and simply has not had time to review the request. You should  insure you  are not violating the order while the judge makes a decision  regarding your  request.

Michael Morgan · Answer

If this is a criminal no contact order, the defendant should schedule a motion. If this is a civil no contact order, either party can schedule a motion.

Donna Eugenia Vasilkovs · Answer

Unfortunately there is no other way. Persistence is the key. Keep bringing it up at every hearing. The prosecutor will object, and the judge is likely to wait until a trial or conviction before ruling b/c a standard condition after this type of conviction is no contact for a year, sometimes two if it was especially egregious or there are priors.  However, if you and your son's attorney (if she's not bound by a plea agreement to NOT do so), argue vigorously and passionately at sentencing against the NCO and have good reasons such as mutual children in common or he is the sole household earner, etc.,, many judges will then relent and vacate the NCO  ( usually if there are no priors of the same type).  And if your boyfriend prevails at trial or it's dismissed, it's automatically vacated!  One piece of advice: beware of the so-called  "victim advocates." They are employees of the prosecutor but will behave as your friend, give you supposedly neutral, unbiased advice. They will try to "brainwash" you that he NEEDS help, that it will only escalate and eventually he'll kill you, etc., etc. My advice is don't talk to them, ignore their calls, letters,etc. and don't fill out the victim impact statement they provide to the court where they instruct you to say what happened. They'll tell you that a  no contact for a "short while" will be better for the relationship; etc, etc. Don't buy it. If anything, write on the impact statement simply this: witness saw it wronghe was too far away and we were behind bushes or whatever.  Just beware if this:if you say you pushed him 1st, he and he only acted in self defense, or that you lied b/c you were mad at him when you gave the police your statement,Remember, saying you pushed him 1st or grabbed him and he couldn't get away , etc., you are  subject to possible criminal charges for assault and another NCO problem!  However, in my 25 years of practice, 10 of which almost exclusively defending domestic violence cases (for which I won an award as the most efficient and aggressive attorney in DV cases), I have never seen the prosecutor dump the first charge and pursue charges against the victim. Too messy.

Gary Moore · Answer

Your boyfriend's lawyer should contact the court and ask for a date to drop the no contact order.

Leonard A. Kaanta · Answer

The judge is the only person who drop the no contact order.

Dennis P. Mikko · Answer

Since the no contact order was entered by the Court, the Court will have to rescind it.  Other than politely asking the Court to take immediate consideration, there is little you can do to make the Court act faster.  The delay may be in part that the Court wants to make sure you really want the order dropped.  Often, right after an incident the victim asks that the matter be dropped only to find a week or two later that he/she should have pursued the matter at the time.

Steven Alpers · Answer

You can contact the District Attorney and request the order be ended. Your boyfriends' lawyer needs to push for the restraining order to be dropped to a no harass, molest or annoy order. At least then it allows your boyfriend to have contact with you, although the danger to your boyfriend is that if you get mad at him you can report him and he will have to fight to get out of custody from jail.

Cristian Michael Towers · Answer

Temporary Restraining Orders are generally not entered without the victim requesting one, so I would question whether a TRO actually was entered.  Did either of you receive paperwork from the Court?  Your boyfriend would have had to have been personally handed a copy of the Order.  Otherwise, he would certainly have a notice defense if there is ever a contempt charge for violating the Order.  This doesn't sound like a NJ matter.  Perhaps this occurred in PA?  They handle their PFA's differently (Protection From Abuse).

Michael Palumbo · Answer

You can't that is up to the prosecution.

Gary Russell · Answer

In order for there to be a no contact order in place, there must be a formal charge pending against your boyfriend.  Otherwise, the court would have no jurisdiction to enter such an order (unless you filed separately for a personal protection order PPO).  If it is a PPO, you can file to terminate it at any time.  If it is a no contact order as a condition of bond, pending further hearing on a criminal charge, only the court can dismiss such an order.  You can request that it be dismissed, or at least modified to allow contact of a non-assualtive nature.

Bernal Ojeda · Answer

Keep calling the clerk to set a hearing date or get an attorney file a motion vacating order.

Gregory Crain · Answer

Get a court date, go to court and make your request.

Stephen Freeborn · Answer

You are in a difficult situation.  The only person who can agree to drop the charges is the prosecutor....who then goes before the judge for approval. You cannot bypass the prosecutor.  Based upon the witness report (as you have stated), there is "probable cause' that your boyfriend may have committed the crime of domestic violence.  Because this is a crime, the state gets involved.  Once the state gets involved, you have no control as you are a victim/witness to the crime that your boyfriend allegedly committed. You are not the one bringing the charges.  It is the state. Prosecutors and judges are reluctant to dismiss no contact orders in these situations because of the following scenarios:              The assault did happen, but you, the victim/girlfriend, are recanting because of fear of intimidation or threats of retaliation by your boyfriend, or the fear of being on your own, especially if he is the sole or major income provider to the relationship. There is also the possibility that he may have assaulted you, but as the victim, you are of the position that "he really did not mean it", "this is the only time he has ever done it", "he only hits me when he is drunk", "it was my fault",, etc., etc.; in other words, the victim places the blame on herself for his actions.              If any of these scenarios is true, and the judge or prosecutor were to drop the no contact and then something were to happen to you, there would be real issues for the judge and prosecutor.  All you have to do is read the papers.              My advice is that you boyfriend get an attorney to assist him with this matter.  The consequences of a conviction are quite substantial. Don't think the case will go away if you don't cooperate or refuse to testify... especially if there was an independent witness, which appears to be the case.

Jeffrey Pollock · Answer

Hire a lawyer to represent you separate from the attorney that the   Defendant boyfriend has retained so that there is no perceived conflict of   interest/duress/coercion so that your counsel can appear at the Magistrate's   office to accomplish what you desire a.s.a.p.

Mark Smith · Answer

Find out when your boyfriend's next appearance is scheduled for and show   up. Speak to the domestic advocate and tell her why you want the no-contact   order dropped. She should assist you. If the court date is out too far  appear in  court at the next date for the town prosecutor go to the clerk's  office and have  the case brought to the judge. Then speak to the advocate and  follow the same  procedure.

John Patrick Yetter · Answer

Motion the case up before the judge with a proper motion to vacate and demand a hearing.  It is likely you would have more success if one or the other of you were represented by counsel.

Bruce Arthur Plesser · Answer

Isn't the court system great? Call prosecutor in charge of case.

Robert De Groot · Answer

First of all you need to hire a local attorney in this matter. Thing move much more swiftly, not as swiftly as you want, when you hire an attorney. At the next hearing be there and tell the judge that you want the no contact changed to no violent contact.

John Brennan · Answer

Hire an attorney and file a motion to have the order dismissed.  You, or your boyfriend, should have been given a notice and hearing before the order was placed permanently into effect. As, learn a lesson, don't fight in public, indeed, and preferably, don't fight at all.  If you cannot accomplish that, perhaps the no contact order is not such a bad idea.

Austin Hirschhorn · Answer

The police must have filed something to get the court involved.  You should contact the police officer in charge of this case and tell him about the problem you are having.  He or she might be able to get something done for you.  If that doesn't work, you should hire a lawyer to help you with this problem.

Herschel Bullen · Answer

The relevant portion of the Cohabitant Abuse Act provides as follows:  (10) A court may modify or vacate an order of protection or any provisions in the order after notice and hearing, except that the criminal provisions of a protective order may not be vacated within two years of issuance unless the petitioner: (a) is personally served with notice of the hearing as provided in Rules 4 and 5, Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, and the petitioner personally appears before the court and gives specific consent to the vacation of the criminal provisions of the protective order; or\(b) submits a verified affidavit, stating agreement to the vacation of the criminal provisions of the protective order. (11) A protective order may be modified without a showing of substantial and material change in circumstances. Utah Code Ann.  78B-7-106  It sounds like the case is in a justice court.  So probably, if it can't be done informally, one of you will have to make a motion to vacate the order and request a hearing.  If you are both present at the hearing and request that it be vacated, it is likely, depending on the accuracy of the facts set forth, that the order will be dismissed.

Stuart Nachbar · Answer

If you contact the Court Clerk, you should be able to get a date for the Judge.  If you file a formal motion, the Court will have to hear the matter.  Short of that, without the Court, there is no way to do this.

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