Battery and Criminal Trespassing

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Georgia
Last weekend my husband and I got into an argument and to get away from him I ran upstairs and locked our bedroom door (which was already broken due to the previous owners). He followed me upstairs and pushed on he door with the palm of this hand twice and pushed the door open. We continued to argue, he did pull my hair (no hair actually came out of my head) as I tried to leave the room. When I made it downstairs I called 911, in hopes of calming him down, only because he has been do short tempered lately. When the police arrived we explained exactly what happened, they saw that there were no marks on anyone and neither of us were even being upset at this point. My husband had to walk one of the officers upstairs to show him the bedroom door (which was already broken!). The 2 officers then came out and spoke to us together and admitted there were no marks, nobody was being unruly, etc... BUT because of the family violence law if you so much as kick a bucket, punch a hole in a wall, anything during an argument, the person who did this had to be arrested. Needless to say I begged, it did no good. They charged him with simple battery (remember no marks!!) and criminal trespassing (really? Door was already broken!). However... No pictures were taken. Now I am waiting for the DA to contact me to try to get a no violent contact order and to see what, if anything, I can do to get charges dropped against him. Neither of us have ever been in trouble. I just wanted him to chill out! Boy did I learn my lesson!!

The purpose of calling 911 isn't to "calm someone down", I'm afraid.

I can't imagine how the "criminal trespassing" will stick.

You don't need to wait for a prosecutor to call. Please note that prosecutors and police are used to the person on the receiving end of a DV situation to ask for charges to be dropped, so you may sound more credible if you up front acknowledge that you understand this is the case.

"I just wanted him to chill out!"

You don't say what gave you the notion that calling the emergency assistance line was supposed to accomplish this, but I'm glad it was a learning experience. (You might also want to urge him to talk with a therapist about anger management, and be proactive since the "system" will typically address that for him in a mandatory way regardless.)

Ok this sounded a lot more non-chalant than it was I guess. He was very pissed and definitely needs anger management. What I didn't mention and noticed when I looked back and read it, was he had been drinking. Now he can handled beer with no problem, but he had some liquor which makes him angry!! Changes the story. Sorry! Thought I put that but was inturruptec while typing the first part. I have already tried to file a non violent contact with the court and was told I could not do anything or contact anyone concerning this case for 7-10 days, when the DA will contact me. I have no clue about any if this at all!!! You are so right. I should not have called, but I was scared at the time and in the heat of the moment we don't always make very good choices!!!

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One more thing I didn't mention. He is at least twice my size. If he truly wanted to hurt me he could and there would be no doubt you would see marks! I am 5'3" 120#s and he is 6'5" 240#s.

Problem is that even hair-pulling falls under category of assault (and, in your locality, perhaps the precise charge levied). If I even (literally) laid the tip of a(n unwanted) finger on you, it can count as such.

The notion that you CANNOT contact anyone to talk about is nonsense, though processing takes time and a given prosecutor may not be yet assigned.

Lady you really need to seek some help from a DV counselor. Your husbad is a violent and angry man. The police were correct in arresting him. He needs an attorney. Make sure neither of you violate the order - it could make things very difficult for him if either of you do.

We have not violated anything associated with his order. I was hoping to hear from someone the beginning of the week, if not, I will try to contact someone to find out where to go from here. As far as him being very violent...not a very violent man, angry yes, but not violent. You would honestly have to see this door to understand. The hair pulling, yes. Has this ever happened in our 16 years of marriage?? Never!! Nothing close.

A couple of things to note here....

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Quoting Southerngirl3

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Last weekend my husband and I got into an argument and to get away from him I ran upstairs and locked our bedroom door (which was already broken due to the previous owners).

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When attempting to secure yourself against violence, fleeing to a room where you have little or no chance of escape short of jumping and breaking your legs isn't a good idea. Upstairs rooms...no good. You're trapped. Bathrooms? Easiest door in the house to kick in. Kitchen? That's where all the knives and sharp things live. Door that won't secure because it's already broken? Not likely to protect you much. Now that you're AWARE that your husband has violent tendencies, you REALLY should work on a personal safety plan so that should violence erupt in the future, you'll have already had time to ponder the "what ifs" and "where should I go..what to do" scenarios. (Also helpful against non-husband threats, like the crackhead who breaks into your house in the middle of the night looking for stuff to pawn.)

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he did pull my hair (no hair actually came out of my head)

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That'll generally qualify as a battery. Injury isn't a requirement of the charge, it would only mean "regular" or "simple" battery instead of aggravated battery (which would usually cover the use of weapons or a battery that DID result in injury). In other words, ANY unwanted touching can constitute a battery charge.

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as I tried to leave the room.

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In some states, that could qualify as a special type of kidnapping charge - GA doesn't happen to be one of them - but LOTS of "regular" things can be escalated to a criminal charge when it occurs in conjunction with the crime of domestic violence (for example, on a normal day, you have every legal right to tear your phone out of the wall or smash a cell phone that you pay for...cause it's your stuff....BUT if those things occur DURING a domestic violence incident, they can result in ADDITIONAL criminal charges, because the intent of those acts is to prevent someone from seeking help or, as in your case, from attempting to leave.

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When I made it downstairs I called 911, in hopes of calming him down,

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Summoning the police rarely calms people down - it usually does one of two things: it makes them fearful of arrest causing them to FLEE, or it makes them MAD causing them to take out anger on the person trying to get them in trouble. But it doesn't calm most folk. Once you report that a crime is occurring, police have a duty to respond and treat the crime as a crime. They're not there to act as social workers, marriage therapists, or to make people walk around the block and cool off. Those days ended a couple of decades ago. Reporting a crime results in response to a crime.

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When the police arrived we explained exactly what happened, they saw that there were no marks on anyone and neither of us were even being upset at this point.

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None of which matters. As noted above, marks aren't required, and being calm NOW doesn't change that a crime occurred THEN. You can't describe the crime committed against you and then expect police to treat it as NOT a crime. Most serial killers are perfectly calm when police arrive too - doesn't mean no crime occurred.

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My husband had to walk one of the officers upstairs to show him the bedroom door (which was already broken!). The 2 officers then came out and spoke to us together and admitted there were no marks, nobody was being unruly, etc...

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Marks don't matter. Unruly doesn't matter. Would have only ADDED charges to the crime you reported. The crime occurred with the hair pull.

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BUT because of the family violence law if you so much as kick a bucket, punch a hole in a wall, anything during an argument, the person who did this had to be arrested. Needless to say I begged, it did no good. They charged him with simple battery (remember no marks!!)

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Yep. simple battery is what it's called when there was no weapon and no injury. Battery is STILL a crime, however. Marks would just mean a more serious form of battery.

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and criminal trespassing (really? Door was already broken!). However... No pictures were taken.

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Pics of the broken door wouldn't really help anyone to determine WHEN the door was broken...only that it was broken at the time the pic was taken.

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Now I am waiting for the DA to contact me to try to get a no violent contact order and to see what, if anything, I can do to get charges dropped against him.

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All you really can do is express your wish as the victim. By law in Georgia (and the other 49 states have similar laws) you have the RIGHT to do this. However, given that some 80% of victims don't want the state to pursue a case against the defendant (for LOTS of reasons), they are experienced at nodding and letting the preference go in one ear and out the other. The law only requires them to LISTEN, it doesn't require them to OBEY the victim's wishes. Prosecutors get paid to prosecute cases, and most operate under the assumption that it's better to prosecute a simple battery now rather than a homicide later (and yes, most homicide vicitms never think it'll happen to them). If they've got a credible case, they can be expected to pursue it, at least to the point of pressuring the defendant to plead to SOME charge even a lesser one, to get the case closed. It's really important to know that if you're successful in getting the DA to seek only a PFA order rather than a full-out restraining order, that it's GOT to be obeyed. Having an incident and then breaking an order makes BAD things happen - like a DA seeking a PERMINANT restraining order or, if there are children in the household, getting CPS involved to remove the children from the unsafe household. If there is no prior criminal history, a DA might consider allowing a defendant a chance to complete anger management, domestic violence, substance abuse, or other counseling, at his own expense, and to drop the charge IF that counselinng is completed.

Best you can do for him at this point is find the money to hire the best criminal defense attorney you can collectively afford. While you're doing so, don't forget to be aware of what he's willing to do FOR you and not just TO you. If he's got your interests at heart, why hasn't he taken the initiative to get himself some help along the lines of anger management, getting/staying sober, etc. Sadly, most people don't make lasting changes to their behavior until THEY want to make those changes and take those steps for themselves - having a court order it generally doesn't produce stellar results.

Don't forget your safety plan. It can litterally save your life someday.

I do truly understand what you are saying and where you are coming from, I truly do as I personally know someone who had a restraining order against her husband only to be shot and killed by him! In my case, although it was not a good circumstance at all and I don't want to make it out to be, but our situation is not at all a very violent one either. By saying that, I'm not saying it wasn't at all either mind you and he definitely needs anger management due to many things in his past that I believe he needs help dealing with and blows up way to easily!! Counseling for both of us and the whole family is also needed! I don't believe though that the pending charges are the answer, but it is not my call to make and I can only make suggestions, speak to the DA's office , etc... Like I have said, this is my first encounter ever with anything of this kind so I'm not sure how to pursue any of this! It's very confusing and quite honestly makes me sick to think that I made that call to begin with!

Don't blame yourself. You making the call didn't cause this situation - HIS behavior put you in fear, and you did what you needed to do at the time to keep yourself safe. He put you in a no-win situation - either you were going to have to face the violent incident alone at the time, not knowing how far it could or would escalate, or, you were going to have to reach out and involve outside forces. A first incident of violence usually puts victims in a state of utter terror at the time, wondering who the hell the other person, that they think they know so well, actually is - and that can really shake you when someone you love explodes in a way you've not ever experienced. Everything you think you know about them goes right out the window at that moment. It's emotionally devastating to be in that situation, and worse is that more often then not, as bad as the moment may have been, victims often feel that the quick initial incident was nothing compared to the drawn out process with police and the courts that occurs afterwards. But when you stop being willing to protect yourself, THAT is when things can get VERY out of hand...and much more dangerous for you.

If you haven't already, have a talk with your local domestic violence program. They can point you to both individual and family counseling services, as well as usually being able to tell you where in your area programs like anger management or substance abuse counseling can be sought (courts are really good at ordering people INTO programs, but often not so good at providing info on where or how to GET those services - they just order that it be done, and leave it up to the defendant to figure out how or where to do so).

The problem you are experiencing is becoming more common all the time. A marital dispute is escalated by an "I'll show you" call to 911, one person gets arrested and the family structure is decimated. You see the responses you are getting from aardvarc who is an advocate and Antigone. They feel any family argument that escalates is a crime and needs criminal prosecution. This type of over reaction has resulted in the situation you find yourself in. There are many situations where arguments escalate into severe situations and police interaction is needed. When you picked up the phone, you escalated the situation to that level. If I were your hubby, I would divorce you and treat you like the plague. You just trashed a 16 year marriage.