Assault, Second Degree

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Maryland

So my fiancee came home yesterday and he asked me for his documents which i did not have and he resulted into chocking me and hitting me several times which i had been used to since it was not the first time he had hitting me. So this time i decided i had enough of it and i dialed 911 and told them what was wrong and they quickly responded and i believe my fiancee heard me call them. So by the time the cops were here i had locked myself in the master bedroom and my fiancee was at the basement but he was the one that opened the door. He then gave his version of the story saying that i had scratched him and hurt him so bad to a point that he was bleeding and honest to God i had not touched this man at all. So i gave them the version of my story and since i did not have visible marks on me, i was arrested for close to 7 hours and later released. So the police stated on my case that they asked my fiancee to act out what happened and it was not consistent with how it happened and that My fiancee stated that he was not quite sure what happened. I am now supposed to appear before court in a couple of months and i would not want to go to jail and i would not want him neither to go to jail since am here on a visa and he is the one providing for us and our new born baby. He claims he will drop the charges. What should i do?

First, you need an attorney. Then, you need to learn VERY quickly that depending on a man who beats you is very dangerous. It means he basically owns you, and that one of two things are likely to happen: one, you'll stay with him even though he beats you because of your dependency (as already evidenced) and two, it means that at some point when the beatings get out of control and either he, you, or someone else calls the police, it's ALL out of your hands, and the very thing you've been totally dependent on could go "poof". You need a backup plan in place immediately, because if it's not this time that he goes to jail, it sounds like you need to be counting on it happening eventually.

Domestic violence is a crime. Even if you don't want it to be. It's possible that the state could bring charges against either one of you. If that happens, the state will pursue the case if they think it's strong enough - it doesn't matter that one of you doesn't want the other one to get in trouble or not.

If the state brings the charge against you, you need to request an attorney. If the state brings charges against him, then he needs to request an attorney. AND, you need to start thinking of how to support YOURSELF rather than depending on a man who could be in jail at any moment, or kill or severely injure you or your child at any moment. This is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. Finally, you need to be aware that now that an arrest has been made for domestic violence in your home, child protective services will be interested in the case - and if the domestic violence occurred when the child was present, you may also face removal of the child from the home if the two of you continue to co-habitate (the state is willing to let YOU decide to risk danger to yourself, but not to risk you exposing the child to such danger).


You need to be speaking with a domestic violence advocate near you ASAP:

http://www.aardvarc.org/dv/states/mddv.shtml

Thank you for your respond and I am going to seek a public defender tomorrow and at the same time my fiancee is going to withdraw the case. Thereafter i plan to leave the state and leave my fiancee for good.I cant stand someone who claims to love me and yet he harms me.

You may need permission from the court to relocate your baby out of state.

What is your current immigration status?

My visa expired a while back and this same guy was due to marry me sometime next month that way i can start on my paperwork but it seems like now that i called the wedding off i will have to rethink about it since i do not want to be deported back.

What kind of visa?

(It's important - it may make a huge difference as to whether you'll be able to adjust your status or not)

Its a B1 visa which is a visitors visa.

You absolutely need to speak with an attorney.

If you are here on an expired visa, you're technically out of status and may be subject to deportation proceedings. Because your child is a US citizen your fiance may be able to get full custody of the child if you are deported. However, the circumstances surrounding the overstay WILL be considered and may help your situation depending on why you overstayed.

You're in a very difficult situation. Outside of a bona fide marriage to a US citizen, the only way I think you can adjust your status would be via the U visa.

There's information here about the U visa but I'm not sure you'd fit the criteria unless your fiance is actually convicted of DV against you.

I'm going to try to find some more information for you; please keep checking the thread.

Thank you and i will be looking forward to the thread. I was summoned today and it states that its me vs Maryland state and not my fiancee. Does that mean that even thou my fiancee dropped the charges i would still go to court?

It's a common misconception that people "bring charges". They don't. The STATE brings charges in criminal cases, on behalf of ALL members of society, not just the "victim" of the crime. That's why all criminal cases are "State of X vs. Individual's Name". A victim can let their preference for the case not to be pursued known to the DA, and the DA may take that into consideration, but in the bigger picture their duty is to the entire community, so if they have a crime, and think they can make a case, they pursue the case.

If you haven't already, you REALLY need to be in contact with a domestic violence advocate in your area. They are versed in and have excellent resources for situations such as yours and may be able to bring in types and levels of support and assistance that you won't find on your own (particularly the immigration issue which is going to be as problematic as the criminal charge and probably with much greater consequences if not addressed properly).

I already went to seek a public defender since i cant afford a lawyer by myself. And they said they would call me once the court date nears coz its close to 2 months away. its towards the end of october.

Ok - but the public defender is NOT a domestic violence vicitm advocate. YOU NEED TO SPEAK TO AN ADVOCATE - particularly in regards to immigration status - which is something the public defender will NOT be able to address .