Defense Strategies for Maryland Domestic Violence Charges

There are many defense strategies that may be available for Maryland domestic violence charges, however, building a defense often depends on the nature of the incident and underlying facts. Contacting an experienced domestic violence attorney can be vital to creating the most appropriate argument for your future. A Maryland lawyer with experience in these cases can give you peace of mind while preparing for trial.

Self-Defense and Defense of Others

A person is legally permitted to take a reasonable, necessary action to avoid a perceived threat. The key is ‘reasonable,’ because an individual who is pushed cannot bring out a gun and shoot somebody, but they can push back. They might even be able to strike or kick them if they need to do so to get away or to leave the situation. There are a lot of possibilities on how things may play out. A lot of it depends on the nature of the circumstances and the severity of the perceived threat. Those are all factors for defense strategies for Maryland domestic violence charges.

As defined by Maryland law, the defense of others is if a passerby, Good Samaritan, or other person sees an altercation, they are permitted to engage who they perceive to be the attacker, even if it turns out that the person who gets attacked was actually the original victim and the victim was defending themselves. It has to be reasonable and necessary to the situation in what they do.

Potential Evidence

Essential evidence is considered witnesses’ testimony, medical records if there are any, and the position of the victims. Having these forms of evidence plays a big role in creating defense strategies for Maryland domestic violence charges. Frequently if the victim is there and is very upset and angry, it is likely going to be a very different result than a victim who is sympathetic or feels loyalty towards the individual that may have committed the act against them. Prosecutors and judges will listen to victims and often do what they say but will give some weight and consideration to what their wishes are over the entire incident.

Benefits of a Local Lawyer

Only an attorney that has handled these types of cases will know how to address the very delicate nature of domestic violence allegations. They know the prosecutors, judges, protocols, procedures, and steps to be taken. All of that is integral to proper defense strategies for Maryland domestic violence charges.

They will take whatever legal steps they can, including addressing any underlying issues that would be helpful. If somebody is otherwise a law-abiding citizen, but when they drink alcohol they become violent and that is what compelled it, this person needs to get into alcohol treatment. Education, classes, sobriety, AA meetings, and things of that nature will put things in perspective. A judge will appreciate an individual who has taken it upon themselves to try to better themselves and address the underlying issue as opposed to someone who just wants to dig their head in the sand and ignore it.

Having relationships with prosecutors and judges and knowing their preferences and tendencies is critical to any case as well as having somebody local would have that type of intimate knowledge that a person on the outside simply would not.