Maryland Domestic Violence Pre-Trial Release
When arguing for Maryland domestic violence pre-trial release, one of the main risks to consider is whether or not the individual is a flight risk. The other issue is whether they are a danger to the community or a victim in the public, which is more typical of domestic violence cases. In this situation, providing assurances that there will be minimal or no risks to the victim or anybody else is the best way to approach that.
It is critical to contact a distinguished domestic violence lawyer when preparing your application for pre-trial release. If they have never had a prior record, maybe the course of action would be to argue that the nature of the injuries are minimal, to minimize the risk of injury or danger to the public at large or any purported alleged victim.
What Lawyers Argue to Have Clients Released after Arraignment
There is no real arraignment when someone is charged with domestic violence. When a person is charged and they have been processed, they will see a commissioner. A commissioner is a public servant that decides whether or not a release is appropriate. At that phase, an individual is entitled to have an attorney assist them.
Now, if the commissioner sets too high a bond in order to release the person, the next business day, that individual has a bail review in front of a judge. At either situation, whether it is in front of the commissioner or a judge, an attorney can be present and available to help procure somebody’ release. The two main factors are whether the person is a danger to the community and whether they are a flight risk.
In both situations, the attorney wants to argue the person is not a flight risk, is not going to flea, and is going to show up at court.The defense also wants to show the judge that the client is not a danger to the public or any victim. Now because it is second-degree assault, almost certainly, there is an element of wanting to make sure that the victim is unaffected so that is always a consideration but it does not mean someone is going to be held necessarily and they cannot be released. But that is how it works in that respect.
Being Released After Arraignment
Some of the conditions for Maryland domestic violence pre-trial release failure would be having to vacate their home if they lived with the alleged victim, and have no contact with them. They cannot go to work. If they want to get any personal belongings from their home, they have to have a police escort to help them for a brief period of time to get their belongings.
They might have to check in periodically with pre-trial services or just an agent to make sure they have no problems or issues. They might have to go to counseling or anger management and, in many kinds of situations, they may even be required to wear a GPS monitoring ankle bracelet. In most situations, though, they are required to stay away from the accuser, have no contact, and not go near them or their house, if they live together.
No Unlawful Contact
There are two circumstances of no contact inMaryland domestic violence pre-trial release cases. There could be what is called no unlawful contact, meaning the person can still communicate with the alleged victim but cannot do anything inappropriate.
That is typically done when there is no history and the relative nature of the alleged act is benign such as maybe a push, a shove, or it is still an assault but there are no injuries. That can be precautionary measure if the individual is willing to accept that. However, if they do not want that, it will never be ordered.
Defining No-Contact
No contact means any contact of any kind, not just in person. It is also the most common kind of no contact order. That means no calls, no texts, no social media, and it also means no communication through third parties. If an individual defendant gives a message to be delivered to somebody else, that is still considered contact and would be in violation of the pre-trial release.
Legally, the only acceptable contact would be showing up for court dates, which is not a violation. If the judge permits limited contact for a strict purpose such as, parties that have children, there may be no contact except through a designated third party for the purposes of child visitation and transfer through a third party only.
Consequences of not Abiding by No-Contact
The bond can be revoked and they may sit in jail until the day of trial. A bond is not a punishment; a bond is designed to ensure that if someone wants to be released then they will abide by certain terms of conditions. If an individual does not want to abide by these terms and conditions, they will just sit in jail until their trial date.
The whole purpose of bail or bonds are for pre-trial release are so the individuals do not have to sit in jail while they are waiting for the court case. The wait would be weeks or even months down the road. If a person violates that, what could happen is that they will sit in jail until their date of their court. If ultimately they would never get jail time for their case, they may sit for weeks or months because they could not abide by the terms and conditions set forth in the release.
Severity and Penalties of No-Contact
As far as Maryland domestic violence pre-trial release, even an individual who has no record, no history, has never received jail time as a consequence, they may be just given a probation or a sentence. They could sit in jail for weeks or even months waiting for their court date just because they did not file the no-contact order.