Claimant in Domestic Battery

[KevinArnold]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Illinois

I am pressing domestic battery charges against my ex-girlfriend. The court date is tomorrow.

My question is what will this involve? I've never had to do this before. There was only one witness that saw the entire ordeal start to finish, but he will not testify. She attacked me first and I merely acted in self-defense, however I did not cause her any physical harm. She caused me visible physical harm which was documented by the police. I have another witness that was present when it happened, but he did not see how it started.

What should I expect? Thank you.

[Mr. Knowitall]

How did things go in court?

I am surprised that the prosecutor never got around to telling you what was going to happen in court - or perhaps they did, but after you were at the courthouse. Generally speaking you would be asked to wait outside of the courtroom until called to testify, be sworn in, be asked about what happened by the prosecutor, be cross-examined by the defense (that can be anywhere from easy to intense depending on the facts and lawyer involved), then usually would be free to watch the rest of the trial from the gallery.

(The odds are that the case was settled with a last-minute plea bargain, but it's up to you to now let us know if that happened or if it went to trial.)