Domestic Violence in Iowa

Hi,
My brother is charged with DV. He pushed his gf, but he didn’t mean anything from it (they were being playful), and someone called in the cops. The gf said the push wasn’t on purpose, but because my brother admitted to pushing her (Because he thought the cops could understand that they were playing, and it accidents happen) the state won’t let her drop the charge. The was a witness who called in the report saying it was on malicious intent, but he was more then a block away when it occurred. The gf has said she will help side with my brother, because she believes he didn’t do anything.There was an injury that occurred, but it was from earlier that week. Because my brother’s gf is an exchange student, she believes the cops misunderstood her-because they asked her 3x where he lived before she could understand. Does the court have a case against my brother, even though the victim if brought to court will side with him? Will the charges be drop before it even goes to court? What can they do?Any help would be appreciated; I’m very worried for my brother. Thank you for any help I can get. (side note: my brother has never gotten a ticket in his life, no run in with the law until this DV w/injury charge)

The ways things looked versus the way things supposedly were is exactly why we have trials. In this case, the action and the result looked like a duck, walked like a duck, and quacked like a duck. When you push someone in front of witnesses, and there is injury in the equation, intentional or not, pre-existing or not, there's little wiggle room for the prosecution to do anything OTHER than treat the situation like what it looked like. In cases of domestic violence in particular, the overwhelming number of victims do everything in their power to make the party arrested and charged with the crime look stellar, say it never happened before, it wasn't intentional...etc.etc. This dynamic DOES make it difficult for those cases where it may NOT have actually been an intentional infliction of violence...but again, when you push someone, you take that risk. When you do it in a public place where it can be witnessed and interpreted by those who can't read the mind of the pusher to know their state of mind or intention, it's just ASKING for trouble.

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Does the court have a case against my brother, even though the victim if brought to court will side with him?

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Even genuine victims usually side with the accused, so her testimony is automatically suspect right off the bat and no, probably won't add much credibility. If the prosecution is willing to go forward with the case, then they apparantly think they've got a case they can either win (thanks to an independent witness whose description of that their eyes saw certainly screams "domestic violence"), or can successfully negotiate with a plea.

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Will the charges be drop before it even goes to court?

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Only the prosecutor can answer that question. But remember, prosecutors don't get paid to drop cases...they get paid to prosecute them.

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What can they do?

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They can offer a plea, or a deferment. They can refuse to offer a plea, or a deferment. The prosecution can ask the court to issue a restraining order, even against the wishes of the victim, or the judge could decide to issue one on their own. The judge can mandate things like anger management, domestic violence counseling, drug/alcohol intervention if relevent, and the prosecution can ask the court to impose the maximum sentence if a conviction is achieved. There is a very wide pallate of choices for the prosecution, and, there is a pallate of choices for the judge at sentencing, so long as those sentences fall within any mandatory guidelines that might apply to any specific charges in the case. For a first offense, sentences tend to be lighter, and are often composed of more probation and counseling requirements than incarceration. However, this case is complicated in that there was injury involved. I strongly suspect that unless some powerful evidence that the injury was pre-existing takes the injury element out of the equation, that SOME period of incarceration is at least on the table in the DAs mind.

thank you for your reply. And the injury was pre-existing...it was occurred earlier in that week...would it be enough the victim says that? or would she have to go in to court as soon as possible to report that??? I really appreciate your help, thank you very much.

If she didn't seek medical treatment for the injury at the time (creating a record that could be admitted as evidence), or, doesn't have some witness to the injury or who can testify that the injury was pre-existing, I'd expect that the prosecution would continue as if the injury was connected with the incident (assuming the injury was consistent with the events). If he pushed her and she fell on her fanny, but the injury is on her shoulder, the state's arguement gets more difficult. If she was pushed down and the injury is on or near a place like legs, hands, or some part that would have hit the ground, the state's case is stronger.

What if it was on her elbow, and her supervisor at work even knew I brought one day at work muscle rub. Because he made a joke with her was the muscle rub because of to much studying. Can her supervisor help witness for that? also her friends saw it before that day as well. thank you very much for your help.

If part of the defense attorney's strategy is to establish the injury as pre-existing, I'd expect them to call such people as witnesses.