Defending Yourself From a NJ Restraining Order

Having a restraining order placed against you by a loved one can be a devastating experience. Mistakes happen, and simple misunderstandings can lead to no-win scenarios. Additionally, many people are falsely accused but merely think “I don’t really care about going near this person so what’s the big deal if they place a restraining order against me anyway”.

The problem is that having a restraining order placed against you means that you are placed in a national domestic violence registry, you will be prevented from purchasing or owning a firearm, and the restraining order will appear in any background checks conducted such as when you apply for a new job. A restraining order could affect your current employment if you employed by the government or a union, and can also impact any child custody arrangement you may have or be seeking. These are all life-altering consequences, and should not be taken lightly.

The good news is that an experienced Passaic County family law attorney can help defend you during your trial, which for a domestic violence charge is known as a summary proceeding, an expedited trial scheduled to begin within 10 days of the filing of the domestic violence charge.

Domestic Violence Summary Proceedings NJ

Since domestic violence summary proceedings happen on an expedited schedule, there is no discovery period normally associated with traditional trials. This means that you must have a lawyer who can quickly recognize what evidence is most important to your trial quickly, and be able to contest the prosecutions’ evidence against you on the fly. Usually the most influential evidence introduced in a domestic violence trial is witness testimony, so it is important that your lawyer be able to examine and cross-examine witnesses intelligently and effectively.

Let’s look at some of the other ways an experienced domestic violence attorney can help defend you during a domestic violence summary proceeding.

Passaic County Lawyer Contests Relevance

By law, your accuser is not allowed to submit any evidence to the court that is not relevant to the domestic violence charges. While it is up to the judge to determine what is and what is not relevant to the case, your family law attorney will be ready to object to any evidence submitted that they believe to not be relevant. This includes testimony by your accuser and hearsay evidence, which we will discuss next.

Woodland Park Family Law Attorneys Contest Hearsay

Similar to relevant evidence, it is ultimately up to the judge to decide whether or not testimony offered is “hearsay”. In simple terms, hearsay is your accuser telling the court what his/her mother said about you. In most cases, this kind of evidence is not admissible unless the person who reportedly said these things is inside of the court, and can be cross-examined by the defendan’t attorney. Similarly, documents can often be considered hearsay if the person who wrote them is not present to testify about what he/she said. In this way, an experienced Passaic County family law attorney can help protect you against inadmissible evidence and hearsay.

Wayne, NJ Domestic Violence Attorneys Protect you from Improper Character Evidence

Another way an experienced family law attorney can help protect your rights is by objecting to improper character evidence. Improper character evidence is any kind of negative story told about you which has nothing to do with the current case. Should your accuser try to use past acts to try to paint you in a bad light, your attorney can object to this kind of evidence being submitted to the court.

Contact a Passaic County Family Law Attorney Today

As you can see, there are a number of ways an experienced family law attorney can help protect you from domestic violence charges. Understanding when and how to object to irrelevant evidence, hearsay, and improper character evidence is an integral part of your defense, and having an attorney on your side who is familiar with these is crucial.

At the law offices of The Montanari Law Group, our family law attorneys are intimately familiar with courtroom proceedings, defenses, and strategies. We have helped protect the rights and future of many clients across Passaic County New Jersey, and we are ready to help you.

To speak with one of our family law attorneys regarding your case today, contact us online or through our Little Falls offices at 973-233-4396.