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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    2

    Default Domestic Violence Situation

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Pennsylvania

    Me and my boyfriend got in a fight about a month ago. In the heat of the moment i went to the police station and filed charges for assault and got a protection order. I learned last week a warrant was signed for his arrest and he was being charged with aggravated assault? Im no defense attorney but i filed these charges and know for certain he committed nothing of the sort. I have since filed a petition to drop the order of protection and included on it that i wished to drop the assault charges as well. My boyfriend wants to fly back up here from texas next week to attend the hearing... Does a family/civil court have the power to drop the criminal charges i filed since they are domestically related? Why is he being charged with aggravated assault for yelling at me and pushing me a couple of times? Is there any way to find out the maximum amount his bond would be if he had to turn in? What options do i have besides asking him to come back and turn in for a crime he didnt commit? please help neither of us want this!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Domestic Violence Situation

    Legal experts AARDVARC, CDWJAVA or JK will hopefully step in and give you a better answer than me, but no, you will not have the power to stop this in civil court. The decision to prosecute will rest with the DA.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Domestic Violence Situation

    Quote Quoting jace_pa
    View Post
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Pennsylvania

    Me and my boyfriend got in a fight about a month ago. In the heat of the moment i went to the police station and filed charges for assault and got a protection order. I learned last week a warrant was signed for his arrest and he was being charged with aggravated assault? Im no defense attorney but i filed these charges and know for certain he committed nothing of the sort.
    Have you actually read the language of the statute(s) he is being charged under? Here's what PA law defines as agg assault:

    § 2702. Aggravated assault.
    (a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of aggravated
    assault if he:
    (1) attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another,
    or causes such injury intentionally, knowingly or recklessly
    under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the
    value of human life;
    (2) attempts to cause or intentionally, knowingly or
    recklessly causes serious bodily injury to any of the
    officers, agents, employees or other persons enumerated in
    subsection (c) or to an employee of an agency, company or
    other entity engaged in public transportation, while in the
    performance of duty;
    (3) attempts to cause or intentionally or knowingly
    causes bodily injury to any of the officers, agents,
    employees or other persons enumerated in subsection (c), in
    the performance of duty;
    (4) attempts to cause or intentionally or knowingly
    causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon;
    (5) attempts to cause or intentionally or knowingly
    causes bodily injury to a teaching staff member, school board
    member or other employee, including a student employee, of
    any elementary or secondary publicly-funded educational
    institution, any elementary or secondary private school
    licensed by the Department of Education or any elementary or
    secondary parochial school while acting in the scope of his
    or her employment or because of his or her employment
    relationship to the school;
    (6) attempts by physical menace to put any of the
    officers, agents, employees or other persons enumerated in
    subsection (c), while in the performance of duty, in fear of
    imminent serious bodily injury; or
    (7) uses tear or noxious gas as defined in section
    2708(b) (relating to use of tear or noxious gas in labor
    disputes) or uses an electric or electronic incapacitation
    device against any officer, employee or other person
    enumerated in subsection (c) while acting in the scope of his
    employment.
    (b) Grading.--Aggravated assault under subsection (a)(1) and
    (2) is a felony of the first degree. Aggravated assault under
    subsection (a)(3), (4), (5), (6) and (7) is a felony of the
    second degree.
    Apparently the DA thinks that your description of events (which was ALSO convincing enough for the court order to be issued, which is usually based on you saying you were afraid), is worthy of the felony charge.


    I have since filed a petition to drop the order of protection and included on it that i wished to drop the assault charges as well.
    Since 90% of domestic violence victims do the exact same thing, only to turn around and go through it again, police and DAs are experts at letting those requests go in one ear and out the other, especially if they think they can make the case. The bottom line is that YOU told them you were victimized, and they are now going to do something about it. Unless, of course, you'd like to tell them that you made the whole thing up and knowingly and willingly filed a false police report..in which case YOU will be the one potentially facing criminal charges. If you don't want them to act like a crime occurred, then don't report one...it really IS that simple. Once you report it, your role is that of a witness, even if an unwilling one.

    My boyfriend wants to fly back up here from texas next week to attend the hearing... Does a family/civil court have the power to drop the criminal charges i filed since they are domestically related?
    Nope. Only the DA can decide to drop charges.

    Why is he being charged with aggravated assault for yelling at me and pushing me a couple of times?
    Pushing is a violent act. Beyond that, we can't see your description of what took place that went to the DA to evaluate for charges. Pushing and yelling is often more than enough - in fact, given that there was actually touching involved (pushing), the case could also include battery charges.

    Is there any way to find out the maximum amount his bond would be if he had to turn in?
    It would depend on whether he was charged as felony 1 or felony 2. You can call your local Clerk of Court and inquire about bond amounts. It will help them give you a clear answer if you know the exact statute number and all the little letters in parenthasees that he's being charged with - will look something like this: 2702(a)(1).

    What options do i have besides asking him to come back and turn in for a crime he didnt commit?
    He can choose not to come back, in which case the court will issue an arrest warrant for failure to appear (out of the frying pan and into the fire, so to speak). He needs to be working with a criminal defense attorney IMMEDIATELY if not sooner.


    please help neither of us want this!
    He chose to take violent action and push you. You chose to report it. It's out of BOTH of your hands at this point. Once you report actions that constitute a crime, it's really out of your hands. You don't have any legal ability to say that it's ok for a crime to be committed against you, and the state has the responsibility to ALL members of society to investigate and take action on any crimes reported to them. The officers turn in their reports and the state, based on what you told officers happened, brings charges that they feel are met by the incident as described. If the defense attorney feels the crime was "over-charged", they are free to argue that it was a simple assault as opposed to an aggrevated one, or that the elements that the state must prove in order to secure a conviction are absent.

    You'll have to wait and see what the state does as far as how vehimently they are going to take the case, whether they'll offer a plea bargain, diversion program, or if they do the full court press and try to slam dunk in trial. Again, his best chance to NOT be looking at 10 years (felony 2) or 20 years (felony 1) of prison time is to be working with an attorney.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Domestic Violence Situation

    Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. If i may ask just one more question? In Pennsylvania can aggravated assault also be charged as a Misdemeanor 1 like in Michigan? I found a law site stating it can be either a Felony or Misdemeanor but verifying this has been quite difficult for me to do. The answer to this question will greatly affect our defense strategy so if your reading this please help ASAP!

  5. #5

    Default Re: Domestic Violence Situation

    No, if they've got is classed as "agg", then felony is the only level. If he can plead it down to "simple", then it drops to misd. level.

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