Personal Injury and Criminal Defense Legal Blog

Domestic Violence Assault Protection Orders in one Michigan County have dropped by over 50% in the past five years.

One of the first steps both police and the criminal court system take in a domestic violence assault charge is to bring the defendant before the Court and issue a No Contact Order, stopping the defendant from communicating, directly or indirectly with the alleged victim. This is a step the court will usually order as a condition of release as the domestic violence assault charge is pending, prior to a conviction. Domestic Violence orders can be specifically tailored, allowing from telephone contact, contact at a mutual child’s scholastic or sports activities, or no hostile contact. Generally, no contact orders (or protection orders) prohibit the defendant from communicating either directly or indirectly with the alleged victim, and prohibit the defendant from coming within 500 feet of the alleged victim’s residence and place of work. This can cause extreme hardships if the defendant and alleged victim live together, forcing the defendant to relocate for a substantial period of time. Often the Court will want to see the defendant enter into a domestic violence treatment plan and complete a significant portion of it prior to lifting the no contact order. Judges often error on the side of caution when deciding whether to issue a no contact order in a domestic violence criminal case. If a Judge decides against issuing a no contact order and another domestic violence assault occurs between the two parties, the Judge’s decision against issuance of the order would come under scrutiny. While issuing a domestic violence no contact order while a case is pending and a defendant is presumed innocent is a life altering decision, it is a step the court often takes. Of note, when a domestic violence order is issued by a criminal court, the alleged victim does not put themselves in jeopardy by contacting the defendant and is not subject to the courts authority.

It is suspected no contact orders have gone down by as much as half in Wane County because of the harsh consequences of DV protection orders. Once it is issued, it can be challenging to get it lifted. People who hve experienced no contact orders before understand the consequences they have. While they are a good tool to keep the defendant from contacting the alleged victim directly or through a third party, they can become a major financial strain on a couple, especially a couple that resides together, as the defendant will be forced to leave and rent a new residence for an unknown period of time. Also, if the denfendant in a domestic violence assault charge is paying the rent, the victim may not want to report an assault for fear the court will evict the defendant from the residence and the defendant will stop paying rent. These domestic concerns are magnified when children are involved.

The domestic violence community of Wayne County held a meeting to discuss the drop in DV no contact orders. Those in attendance included Wayne County Family Division Judges Charlene M. Elder and Connie Marie Kelley, 36th District Judge Ruth Carter, employees of the Wayne County offices of the Friend of the Court, prosecutor, clerk and health and human services and representatives of numerous family protective agencies, including ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), ETRS (Education Training Research Services), Serenity Services, First Step, Turning Point, Looking For My Sister, Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, COTS and the YWCA. Also present were representatives from the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law and Wayne State University Law School. Also in attendance was Henry Baskin, who introduced himself as “just a lawyer.” Baskin was principal author of Michigan’s Child Custody Act of 1970, was chairperson of the state’s Domestic Violence Task Force and was instrumental in bringing about the use of PPOs to protect endangered spouses and children. Baskin, of Birmingham, became involved in the domestic violence community in 1995 when one of his clients was killed after she had been denied a PPO. “I went to Gov. Engler and volunteered to write a domestic violence law,” he said. “At the time, everyone denied there was domestic violence. They called it a family dispute. It passed.” One luncheon attendee credited the bad economy for the drop in filings. Women have no place to go, she said, so they stay put. “PPOs may be down, but domestic violence is not,” she said. “There’s still a feeling among some police that this is something used by vindictive people rather than by someone fearing their life,” said another.