What's the Jail Time for Domestic Violence

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia

He is being charged with domestic assault for hitting me. We have had multiple occasions of physical violence, but this is the first one that I've reported. He is a felon already and has two assault on police charges and a grand larceny. With all that being said, will this domestic charge be considered a felony like I've read on the Internet? And how long will he be in jail for this? I want him in jail for a LONG time so I don't have to be scared anymore.

I suspect that he won't be incarcerated "forever" or even long enough to give you long term peace of mind. Absent prior DV convictions, this is only likely to be a class 1 misdemeanor and he'll get at MOST a year. You should consult a victims advocate or other service organization to look into adding a protective order or the like to keep him away once he is released.

The police officer who responded to my case has already filed an Emergency Protective Order on my behalf, and I am in the process of getting that extended to two years. Thank you for the help...I was under the impression that he would get charged with a felony because of his previous assault charges and one of the police officers he assaulted was a woman.

My reading of the domestic assault statute is that it is only a felony if there are prior domestic assault convictions.

My husband just had his pre-trial i guess with his lawyer,but it isnt sounding good. The people did not like him due to him being a former boxer and having a previous manslaughter charge years ago. I sure hope he doesnt do jail time,here i thought he would just get a fine
When the cops arrived he was long gone and i was so upset that i suppose i didnt really know what was what and not on purpose I did lie but i did not realize until later talking about it with my dad.

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I want my husband home. I have learned so much from this.
Do you think he will be in big trouble?
Can they really make us divorce OR stay away FOREVER? They cannot say that we can NEVER be together can they?

Start your own thread, Torrez.

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Quoting Ltorrez

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My husband just had his pre-trial i guess with his lawyer,but it isnt sounding good. The people did not like him due to him being a former boxer and having a previous manslaughter charge years ago. I sure hope he doesnt do jail time,here i thought he would just get a fine

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The prior ciminals certainly didn't help him. DV is treated as a serious crime because too often it leads to murder.

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Quoting Ltorrez

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When the cops arrived he was long gone and i was so upset that i suppose i didn’t really know what was what and not on purpose I did lie but i did not realize until later talking about it with my dad.

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Changing your story now isn’t likely to be believable. How in the world did you “not realize until later talking about it with my dad” that you lied? If you were “so upset I suppose I didn’t really know what was what” you might consider that you gave an unfiltered and truthful account of what occurred, as you perceived it while it was occurring. This sounds like classic denial.

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Quoting Ltorrez

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I want my husband home. I have learned so much from this.

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What have you learned?

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Quoting Ltorrez

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Do you think he will be in big trouble?
Can they really make us divorce OR stay away FOREVER? They cannot say that we can NEVER be together can they?

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Not knowing what you alleged happened initially, who called the cops, what evidence there is, etc. no one can know, but you certainly make it sound like he is in big trouble.

Forever is a long time, so unless he is forever incarcerated, I doubt they can make you stay away forever. They cannot make you divorce. They can make a no contact order a part of his bond, and potentially leave it in effect for the duration of his sentence including probation / parole. So, no, NEVER is unlikely. The hope might be that it is long enough to keep you safe.

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Quoting Ltorrez

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My husband just had his pre-trial i guess with his lawyer,but it isnt sounding good. The people did not like him due to him being a former boxer and having a previous manslaughter charge years ago. I sure hope he doesnt do jail time,here i thought he would just get a fine
When the cops arrived he was long gone and i was so upset that i suppose i didnt really know what was what and not on purpose I did lie but i did not realize until later talking about it with my dad.

- - - Updated - - -

I want my husband home. I have learned so much from this.
Do you think he will be in big trouble?
Can they really make us divorce OR stay away FOREVER? They cannot say that we can NEVER be together can they?

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WOW! Your story is incredible.

I reported a bad manager to the administration at work for cussing at me in anger and of course she lied about it. They took her side. I can not imagine anybody bold enough to lie to the police. Consider coming clean to the authorities after talking with a lawyer. Maybe they would go light on you. Imagine an innocent person falsely going to prison. Now that would be a huge injustice in my opinion.

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Quoting flyingron

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Start your own thread, Torrez.

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Please do!!!! Former boxer? Previous manslaughter charge? (conviction?) Accidental lying? Wantin' him home?

OMG! Please repost in your own thread!!!

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Quoting Chocker

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.....I reported a bad manager to the administration at work for cussing at me in anger and of course she lied about it.....

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And this has to do with domestic violence how?

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Quoting souperdave

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And this has to do with domestic violence how?

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Verbal abuse at best. That is where domestic violence usually always starts. Not this time though.

You still have to admit giving false information to the police is incredible. Man, that is gutsy since the truth usually always comes out eventually.