How Long Does the D.A. Have to Charge You

[spydergerm]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Oregon

5 months ago I was arrested for Harrassment for spanking my stepson. I was given a restraining order from the state on behalf of him. In the past 5 months of continuous phone calls to Department of Human Services and the DA's office, I have never received a phone call or letter in return. I was out on bail, but that has expired after the first 60 days. I have been to the local family counseling center and talked to them, talked to the local anger management therapist, and am now in a 8 month long weekly group with the county domestic violence doctor. All of this has been relayed in my voicemails and I have never been contacted. The DA's office will not drop the charges yet, but are unwilling to charge either. My wife and kids are all fully behind me coming home since the beginning. She has also repeatedly called all the pertaining offices and complied with all of DHS's requests, all while getting none of the promised help with the child in question. The only call she has received was to reprimand her for not jumping when the severely abusive ex-husband, that DHS brought back into the picture, called to talk. HELP! Is this TOO MUCH at this point? Should I consider legal action?

[jk]

they can leave it as is until the statute of limitations to file charges has run. I suspect it is at least a year.


this is a bit indicative of how long you are going to have to wait:

and am now in a 8 month long weekly group with the county domestic violence doctor.

you also might want to realize a couple things:

the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Make sure the grease isn't charges being filed

this is a test of your patience and ability to deal with adverse situations. If you blow up, it shows the delay was justified and that charges would be the proper direction to go.

[spydergerm]

I don't intend on blowing up, it wouldn't help the situation. Everything I have done has been of my own accord, they have said nothing, let alone about councilling or anything. We are having to pay our mortgage and other bills along with me now having to pay rent and my own bills. We are in danger of losing our house, child care has been stretched to the breaking point, and my wife may lose her job soon because we are running out of people to help watch the kids. We have been patient and respectful the entire process. I am just wondering if I should look into getting an attorney to put pressure on them. 5 months without one word after the arrest, with not even an answer to me offering to sign releases to talk to all the people I have seen, its like they don't even care about getting any of this resolved. I'm feeling left on the back burner. I thought we were promised speedy and due process. And I would never ever downplay any child abuse, but this is over my child being spanked. Not in anger, not beaten, or anything close. He was disciplined and then tried to use it to gain pity from his teacher. Not realizing the stretched truth would be repeated and reported. He has even retracted his statements at the hearing for my wife on if she was a fit mother. My heart is breaking and our family, while desperately trying to cling together, is being destroyed by the slow actions of this office.

[cmre3456]

The DA's office will not drop the charges yet, but are unwilling to charge either.

This part I don't understand. If they haven't charged, how could they drop the charges?

Are you ordered by the court into counseling, or did you make an agreement to do that? Was that done at your trial for the restraining order?

I have no idea what they are thinking, but it may be that they are satisfied with the restraining order and counseling, etc. In Oregon a restraining order is civil not criminal, and it's good for one year. It can be renewed indefinitely one year at a time upon request to the court if the court agrees it should be renewed.

In other words, a restraining order isn't conviction of a crime. It's just an order to not do something. Be sure you don't have any guns in your possession or have access to them while that order is in effect. That means there can't even be guns belonging to someone else in your home. You can't have access to guns. That would get you a criminal conviction.

Should I consider legal action?

Again, I'm not sure. Why wouldn't your "legal action" be to defend yourself in court if the DA brings criminal charges? The DA has all of the time until the statute of limitations runs out to bring charges but that doesn't tell us whether they will. They may be waiting to see how you do with your restraining order and counseling.

Personally, I would be the world's nicest guy and best citizen and hope this goes away in a year.

In Oregon in order to get a restraining order, you have to have done 2 things within a 180 day period. Did you stipulate to the restraining order out of court, or did you have a trial? You are entitled to a trial with the 2 abuses proven by the person bringing the complaint, so this is a bit confusing without knowing more.

Read your paperwork again, carefully. It all makes me wonder if you agreed to a restraining order in lieu of criminal charges but I have no way of knowing that.

If you got into this position by signing an agreement rather than it being ordered by a judge at a trial, then more information would be helpful. I mean, information that's in the document you may have signed. There's a possibility that you stipulated to (agreed to) the restraining order and counseling in lieu of criminal charges.

Edit. Let me add that if you violate that restraining order or fail to comply with any other duties you have such as counseling, you can plan on seeing criminal charges for child abuse. Be an angel.

[jk]

I thought we were promised speedy and due process. .

That applies to a trial and is not applicable until you have been charged.

, but this is over my child being spanked.

I though you said it is your wife's child.

It wouldn't hurt to get a lawyer. They may not be able to do anything but yes, they do tend to be able to reach people the average Joe just can't seem to get a response from.

[spydergerm]

I have not heard one word from anybody since the night I was arrested and posted bail. The only documents I have received were the served restraining order from the state child office and the letter saying my bail restrictions had been dropped after the 60 days of waiting. I have, completely of my own free will, with no recomendations from any DA or DHS worker, enrolled in counsilling with the hope of showing them I am not a danger. The DA is "still reviewing" the case. To this day, 5 months later, have not charged me, but have not decided to not charge me either. And the only reason my stepsons lawyer can't get the restraining order dropped is because the DA says he is "uncomfortable with that happening". This is all through my wife's lawyer who finally found out that small shred of info. I do not have a lawyer yet, since I have not been charged, have not been to court, have had nothing happen since the arrest night. I have absolutely no criminal record, had never even been arrested or in a police car till that moment. I have been doing everything I can to deal with this, and have received no guidance, reply, or not even just a flat "No". Just voicemails and silence. It is my wife's son, but I consider them all my kids and love them as such. We all just want to be back together and ever single family member's life has been made harder, not better, by this. I can understand separating the parties until they can figure out what has happened, but 5 months later??? Not my wife, stepson or anybody else has been questioned or anything regarding this either. So it just gets hard wondering what they are waiting on. This is a small town.

[cmre3456]

I'm sorry but I'm completely lost here. Nothing is fitting into the puzzle. I believe you need to see an attorney and if you can't afford one, then go to Child Protective Services (CPS). There you would want to meet someone, get a name and therefore a contact person, and try to develop a relationship of sorts.

There are child protective orders but those are something you agree to out of court. There are restraining orders but an individual has to ask for that. Then you must be served, you are entitled to a hearing, and the person who requested it must prove that you did those two things within 180 days. Often the person requesting loses because they don't understand what constitutes grounds for a restraining order. "He called me a B****, and he gives me dirty looks" won't cut it.

CPS can remove a child from a home but I know of no way they can remove a parent. They can investigate the physical conditions in a home but even then they need probable cause or reasonable suspicion and a court order.

Here are some things you can read. Frankly I don't know what's restraining you.

Do you have a document which forbids you from going to your family? If so, what's it called? What's the title of the document? Please answer that because I can't figure this out.

Have you ever suspected even a little bit that a family member requested a restraining order?

Please answer that first question about documents, and then read these. The first one is Jackson County's, but it follows state law:

LINK 1

LINK 2

[jk]

cmre3456;633835]

There are child protective orders but those are something you agree to out of court. There are restraining orders but an individual has to ask for that.

the guy was arrested. They can do just about anything as a condition of bail. I think you missed this in the first post:

I was given a restraining order from the state on behalf of him.

They don't work like your standard RO. They just impose it. You don't get to defend against it.

CPS can remove a child from a home but I know of no way they can remove a parent.

by issuing an RO they effectively remove the person from the RO but you also need to realize, the OP is not a parent. They are the spouse of a parent.

Do you have a document which forbids you from going to your family? If so, what's it called? What's the title of the document? Please answer that because I can't figure this out.

restraining order

Have you ever suspected even a little bit that a family member requested a restraining order?

Irrelevant. The state sought the order on behalf of the child.

[cmre3456]

I'm still lost. In his first post he said this: "5 months ago I was arrested for harassment for spanking my stepson. I was given a restraining order from the state on behalf of him."

And:

"The DA's office will not drop the charges yet, but are unwilling to charge either."

He must have been charged with something to have to make bail. He must have been arraigned. I suspect he has a "no contact" order rather than a restraining order. There is a significant difference there, especially about how it can be released.

Oregon has a very onerous "shall arrest" law for domestic violence. Often people are arrested but not charged. I'm looking for more specificity to find out what's happening.

For another thing, after the arrest, the person must attend a specific 48 week program, but the OP says it wasn't required. I don't know if he's attending the proper accepted program.

"Much like DUII Diversion, you will not be sentenced at the time of your plea. You will be required to attend the 48-week Batterer’s Intervention Program described above, along with paying all required fees for the program. If you complete it successfully, then you may withdraw your plea and the charge will be dismissed from your record."

Please Read This. It's a pretty concise explanation of what should be happening.

Nothing is adding up for me here. He should have been required to take the specific 48 week course but he says he wasn't and is getting counseling on his own. After that required program, he could be released to rejoin his family.

If nothing else, more and more I think he needs a good lawyer to get this thing on track. I can't tell from his explanation what exactly is happening or how it matches the law.

[jk]

cmre3456;633921]

He must have been charged with something to have to make bail. He must have been arraigned

.not true. You can be released on bail pending an arraignment. Often times the requirements to allow bail come long before the DA has filed charges. You cannot keep a person in jail forever waiting for the DA to file charges but since there was PC to arrest, you also do not have to allow them to walk away without requiring bail.

I suspect he has a "no contact" order rather than a restraining order. There is a significant difference there, especially about how it can be released.

A no contact order is what the court issues when they don't want you to contact the named party. An RO is what the private person would seek.



from an Oregon.gov site:

No contact orders:
A “no contact order” is an order in a criminal case that tells the defendant not to contact the victim. A judge can order no contact anytime during a criminal case or a no contact order may be required if the defendant is released from jail before trial and sentencing. A no contact order can also be a probation requirement. If the defendant violates the no contact order, he or she may be re-arrested and jailed. A no contact order is different from a “restraining order” like a Family Abuse Prevention Act order or stalking protective order. If you have questions about no contact orders you can call the Victim Assistance Program in your county.

Yes, he probably has a no contact order rather than an RO. It is not uncommon for the general public to utilize one term for the other.

Oregon has a very onerous "shall arrest" law for domestic violence. Often people are arrested but not charged. I'm looking for more specificity to find out what's happening.

It sounds like they have simply not determined whether to actually file charges. Yes, it has been a long time but considering it is a child as the victim, I suspect they wish to investigate this thoroughly. Even with that, I do agree it has been a lengthy time.

For another thing, after the arrest, the person must attend a specific 48 week program, but the OP says it wasn't required. I don't know if he's attending the proper accepted program.

You might want to make sure it isn't after arrest or conviction.

"Much like DUII Diversion, you will not be sentenced at the time of your plea. You will be required to attend the 48-week Batterer’s Intervention Program described above, along with paying all required fees for the program. If you complete it successfully, then you may withdraw your plea and the charge will be dismissed from your record."

Oh, there you go. That is after arraignment and pleading.

Nothing is adding up for me here. He should have been required to take the specific 48 week course but he says he wasn't and is getting counseling on his own. After that required program, he could be released to rejoin his family.

because he hasn't been charged yet.