[dynamite]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia
My ex now, but girlfriend at the time, and I got in a heated argument which resulted in her damaging some of my belongings. At one point I was trying to wrestle something away from her worried she'd break it and ended up getting a few scratches on my arms from her fingernails. They were not intentional or bad but were a result of the struggle over the object and they drew blood. A few min later I was trying to leave our house and she grabbed my shirt to try and stop me which ripped my shirt and a fingernail caught my chest when she grabbed the collar of my shirt resulting in another scratch. I was angry at this point for having a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff destroyed and because she was screaming at me so I called the police, not knowing she was going to get arrested but because I wanted her to stop breaking things and screaming and if I couldn't calm her maybe police could. Well they saw my scratches and in VA if they are called they have to arrest someone, so she was arrested Class 1 Misdemeanor DV. I tried to get them to not arrest her and later went to Commonwealth Attorney to try and get it dropped and was told it cant be and has to go to court. She has no prior, holds a professional job and if this goes on her record it will affect her carreer. She doesnt deserve this charge since I called just out of anger and only got a few accidential scratches (lets not worry about my property damage) We go to court in a few weeks. What is your prediction, what advice can you give to help her prior to court and in court to help her case, and how can she go about getting it expunged if it is dismissed so that employers will not know of it. Thank you.

[aardvarc]

Unfortunately when police are called, particularly in DV cases, their job isn't to calm people down and play family therapist (and that hasn't been the police role for over 15 years now) - instead, it's to enforce the law - so when there is any type of injury, you can pretty much bet that once the last digit is dialed on the phone, there's going to be an arrest. Once an arrest is made, you fall into the role of witness, which is why it's not up to you that charges are brought or that the case moves forward. Remember, crimes aren't considered to be committed against a victim, they are held to have been committed against ALL of society (which is why the state prosecutes criminal cases, and individual victims don't).

As far as predictions, one of the most common outcomes of such cases are classes in anger management or domestic violence. It's not unusual for first offenders to get any other sentence (like jail time) suspended if the court ordered counseling is completed as agreed. Virginia also has a process where the court considers a case to be "under advisement" - so that charges could be dismissed if the agreed on actions are taken (counseling, probation period, community service, etc.). However, this arrest will still show up.

If the case moves forward, and there is either a conviction or a plea, expungement possibilities are out. Under 19.2-392.2, expungement is only available if the defendant is innocent; specifically, if:

1) she's found "not guilty" by a court, or

2) if the charges are dismissed altogether (nolle processed), or

3) if a full pardon is received due to unjust conviction

As you can see, Virginia is super tight on their expungements, so if the reality of the situation is that if "she did it", getting it off her record may be difficult or even impossible. She definately will want to retain the services of a criminal defense attorney who can best advise her of the rammifications of pleas, acceptance of an offered "program" in exchange for lesser punishment, or other options.