Tennessee Domestic Violence Legal Questions

You're going to have to see what comes back on the background check before anyone can tell you what to do. If you really had two charges that were simply dismissed, that should not prevent you from owning a weapon or ammunition. Once you see what shows on the record you can look at how to remove it. If you end up having a domestic violence conviction, you're not going be able to expunge that and you will be barred from owning guns or ammunition for a lifetime.... Read More

(b) A person commits the offense of vandalism who knowingly: (1) Causes damage to or the destruction of any real or personal property of another or of the state, the United States, any county, city, or town knowing that the person does not have the owner's effective consent; Although I think it's a pretty crappy criminal case, and I think an officer with sense might have told your boyfriend to take it to civil court, paying the monthly service bill does not necessarily make that your property. If it was a gift, then it was his property and you can't damage it. I don't know if a jury would say it was a gift, and if I was the DA I would drop this crap ass case, but I can't speak for DA's or cops. ... Read More

That question calls for mind reading. What I'll say is the PO's I have personally known would violate him if they see a report where he caused you physical injuries during a fight. They would say that is, in no way, "good behavior." The "real world" may believe it's somehow or sometimes ok for arguments to be physical but the court world does not, period. It sounds like bf needs immediate anger management if not substance abuse counseling if he escapes prison. There's never a reason to put your hands on a woman. Never. Not one.... Read More

I agree with the previous responding attorney. You can bond him out. You can tell the DA you don' t want him prosecuted, but that is not up to you. A domestic violence case is not you vs. him, it is the State of Tennessee vs him, and they can and will protect you even if you don't want it.   Now, at the practical level, if you are the State's only witness, and you are not cooperative, it may be they can never convict your husband, but you are a witness. As a victim, you are kind of a special type of witness under the law, but bottom law is you are a witness in the State's case.   I don't know if the criminal justice system is what you need, but heated arguments are not supposed to lead to busted lips. If that's how your relationship is, sooner or later he, you, or both are going to go to jail. You've alreay been to the hospital. As I said, maybe you don't need a prosecutor and a judge, but that has to change. The prosecutors have a job to protect citizens of Tennessee, you included. ... Read More

Although you posted as anonymous, I think any lawyer's first advice will be to stop confessing to crimes on the Internet. Making a false police report is a crime, and so yes, you could go to jail for it.   having said that, my opinion, which perhaps is worth what you paid for it, is that any person you tell the story is going to think you told the truth at first, and you are now lying to protect your abuser.    ultimately, it is the state versus the defendant, it's not your case and so you cannot drop it. On a practical level, prosecuting a case where the victim changes their story to help the abuser is very difficult. You will almost definitely be threatened with arrest and prosecution if you tried to change your story, but in my personal experience police and prosecutors very rarely follow through with that threat. As I said, they will believe that you were abused, and they will not really want to lock up a victim.... Read More

To be charged with failure to appear, the State would need to show you were served. I'm not advising you to leave town while subject to an outstanding subpoena, but if you do, an attorney in your new town would be able to contact the prosecutor and most likely resolve the issue. I can only speak for myself, but I've had more than a couple prosecutors threaten to charge a DV victim who didn't come to court. I've never had one actually do it.... Read More

I don't know what evidence exists for the police report saying the alleged victim was hit multiple times in the head. I will say in any criminal case, the State has to prove their case. That sounds obvious, but if in fact there is no evidence to support the State's case, and there is evidence to support the defense alleged, it's possible to convince a jury.   That's a general answer. An experienced trial lawyer will have heard a jury say 'not guilty' enough times to tell you it is possible. The same truth is that juries often believe the version of police over the version of 'regular' people. A lot goes into trying a case, with dozens if not hundreds of facts and little pieces of evidence. The DA tries to build their puzzle out of the pieces, the defense tries to build theirs.   It sounds like the Court already heard a Motion to Dismiss an Order of Protection (which is completely separate from any criminal charge), and denied it. If that's correct, a new Motion would have to list new grounds. It's easy to confuse, but DA's don't represent alleged victims, so they don't have to do what 'victims' want. Every DA I've personally dealt with will tell you they have a 'no drop' policy on Domestic Violence. I will tell you that's not exactly true, but you often have to either force them to do it, or give them a legal 'out.' If a DA believes a victim told the truth initially, and is lying to get charges dismissed, they are not required to take the updated or new story. It may be hard for them to win a trial without a cooperative victim, but on the other hand lots of times along the way they can pick up a victim tampering charge. In other words, Domestic Violence goes away but client goes to jail for talking with the victim. Third party contact counts too, so someone's mama or whomever speaking to the victim 'for the defendant' can be a great way for defendant to pick up more charges.... Read More