If you’re accused of being involved in a domestic violence case, it’s important for you to defend yourself. This kind of charge can lead to a conviction that does hinder your life and make it more difficult to work a job or even find housing. On top of that, you could face time in prison or fines for the behaviors you’re convicted of.
To protect yourself from the charges, you need to work with your attorney on a defense. There are several options including consent, lack of proof, false allegations, self-defense and wrong suspect.
With consent, you’re arguing that the person accusing you of an act consented to it. For instance, if your partner asked you to attack him or her because he or she was training in martial arts, it wouldn’t be then fair to say you were attacking them in an act of aggression.
For lack of proof, you are arguing that there’s not enough proof of wrongdoing to convict you. The same lack of proof argument can be helpful in a case where you’re claiming that false allegations have taken place. In those cases, you can argue that the allegations are made up and even potentially being used as retaliation.
With a wrong-suspect defense, you’re arguing that you weren’t the person who attacked the other person. Maybe you look similar, have a twin or simply were mistaken for the other party. Whatever the reason, you’re not the right person.
Finally, you can argue for self-defense. If the other person started attacking you first, then you can claim your acts of violence were in response and used to protect yourself.
Source: FindLaw Blotter, “5 Potential Defenses to Domestic Violence,” Aditi Mukherji, JD, accessed Dec. 21, 2015
