Domestic Assault and Battery
Rhode Island Domestic Assault and Battery
If you have been charged with Domestic Assault and Battery please call or email me as soon as possible. Like nearly every other type of criminal charge, it is critical to be proactive and take some action to defend yourself before your next court date.
Under Rhode Island law both Domestic Assault and Battery and Assault and Battery are created by statutes. In fact, in many respects a Domestic Assault and Battery charge is the same charge as Assault and Battery. The only difference is that with a Domestic Assault and Battery charge the alleged victim is a member of the Defendant’s family or household. The alleged victim’s relationship to the Defendant is what constitutes the charge of Domestic Violence.
In many cases a Defendant is charged with both a Domestic Assault and Battery charge and a charge of Domestic Disorderly Conduct. It seems to be an unwritten rule for most police departments that if they are going to charge a Defendant with Domestic Assault and Battery they are going to throw in a charge of Domestic Disorderly Conduct for good measure.
The consequences of a Domestic Assault and Battery conviction can be severe. It is critical to at least speak with a Domestic Assault and Battery Criminal Defense Lawyer. Like most other criminal charges, you do not want to handle a Domestic Assault and Battery charge alone because a conviction for this can have both short and long term consequences.
Misdemeanor Domestic Assault and Battery
Under Rhode Island law a misdemeanor Domestic Assault and Battery is generally defined as the unlawful touching of a family or household member. The touching must be either harmful (causing injury) or offensive (spitting).
If the touching is harmful, it remains a misdemeanor as long as the injury inflicted is not substantial. If the injury inflicted is considered substantial, the charge could be amended to felony Domestic Assault and Battery.
Penalties for a First Offense Misdemeanor Domestic Assault and Battery
By statute, any person who is convicted of a misdemeanor Domestic Assault and Battery faces the following possible sentence:
1. Up to one (1) year to serve in prison,
2. A fine of up to one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars,
3. Mandatory attendance and completion of Domestic Violence counseling, also known as a batterer’s intervention program, which can last up to twenty six (26) weeks and costs hundreds and even thousands of dollars, and
4. A Domestic No Contact Order.
A Domestic No Contact Order specifically prohibits the Defendant from contacting the complaining witness. It means no phone calls, no emails, no text messages, no social media contact. Not only does the Domestic No Contact Order prohibit direct contact, it also prohibits indirect contact. This means that the person arrested cannot pass a message to the alleged victim through a third party, such as another family member or friend.
The Domestic No Contact Order remains in effect until a Judge of the District Court terminates it. And the Judge is under no obligation to terminate a Domestic No Contact Order. So even if the complaining witness wants to have contact with the Defendant, which often is the case, the Court does not have to allow it.
Any violation of a Domestic No Contact Order results in new criminal charges.
Penalties for a Second Offense Misdemeanor Domestic Assault and Battery
Any person who is convicted of a second offense misdemeanor Domestic Assault and Battery faces a mandatory ten (10) days in prison, in addition to all of the same penalties as described above.
Penalties for a Third Offense of Domestic Assault and Battery
Any person who is convicted of a third offense Domestic Assault and Battery faces a mandatory one (1) year in prison with the possibility of serving up to ten (10) years in prison. In addition to the prison sentence, the Court can also impose Domestic Violence counseling and a Domestic No Contact Order.
Felony Domestic Assault and Battery
A felony Domestic Assault and Battery is for the most part, is the same thing as a misdemeanor Domestic Assault and Battery with one huge difference. The significant difference is that a felony Domestic Assault and Battery results in serious bodily injury to family or household member.
Serious bodily injury is statutorily defined as any physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death, protracted loss or impairment of a body part, member or organ or an injury that causes serious permanent disfigurement.
Penalties for a Felony Domestic Assault and Battery
By statute, any person who is convicted of a felony Domestic Assault and Battery faces the following possible sentence:
1. Up to twenty (20) years to serve in prison,
2. A fine greater than one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars,
3. Mandatory attendance and completion of Domestic Violence counseling, also known as a batterer’s intervention program, which can last up to twenty six (26) weeks and costs hundreds and even thousands of dollars, and
4. A Domestic No Contact Order.
As described above, Domestic No Contact Order specifically prohibits the Defendant from contacting the complaining witness. It means no phone calls, no emails, no text messages, no social media contact. Not only does the Domestic No Contact Order prohibit direct contact, it also prohibits indirect contact. This means that the person arrested cannot pass a message to the alleged victim through a third party, such as another family member or friend.
The Domestic No Contact Order remains in effect until a Judge of the Superior Court terminates it. And the Judge is under no obligation to terminate a Domestic No Contact Order. So even if the complaining witness wants to have contact with the Defendant, which often is the case, the Court does not have to allow it.
Any violation of a Domestic No Contact Order results in new criminal charges.
Defenses for Domestic Assault and Battery – Self Defense
In my experience the most effective defense to a charge of Domestic Assault and Battery is that the Defendant was acting in self-defense.
Under Rhode Island law self-defense is defined as the justifiable repelling of force by another, with as much force as is reasonable necessary under the circumstances. In order to use the defense of self-defense, the accused has to establish, under the circumstances, that he reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger.
The accused cannot be the aggressor in the incident, but can strike the first blow. This is because under Rhode Island law, one does not have to wait for the first blow to be struck. The accused can actually deliver the first blow and still use the defense of self-defense as long as the accused can establish the reasonableness of his fear of imminent bodily harm.
The great aspect about the defense of self-defense is that once the defendant puts forth reasonable evidence of self-defense, it is then up to the prosecution to disprove the theory of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. This means that the prosecution would have to, in essence, climb the mountain a second time.