My girlfriend and I were at the bar and returned to my apartment later that evening. We were both intoxicated and began arguing over very stupid, irrelevant things. We were arguing and I then tapped her in the face. She then slapped me in the face. We proceeded to argue and I asked her to leave. I then grabbed her arm as I was trying to get her to leave. She was very emotional and screaming and crying. The cops were called by a neighbor in our apartment building because of loud noise. They came and waited outside and eventually heard her screaming (sounding like she was in distress). The police entered the apartment and saw me chasing her up the steps, as we were still arguing. They called us downstairs and split us into separate rooms to get our statements of what was happening. I had a slap mark on my face and she had a mark on her arm. They took photos of both injuries. They placed us both under arrest and booked us and let us go that night (after we both said neither of us were pressing charges; we were there approximately 2 hours). The cop told us that evening that we would be called in front of a judge and asked if we wanted to testify against the other, and if we both said no, it would be dismissed. About a month later, we received a letter in the mail ordering us to court in another month with charges of harrassment and simple assault. We then went to the police station to talk to the cop to see if the charges were still being dropped if we were not testifying and he said yes and that there was no need to get an attorney. Everyone we have talked to, including a law professor who is a retired attorney, is still suggesting we should get attorneys to defend us. Basically, we want to know what punishments could possibly come from this. We also want to know if there is a way to avoid these charges and have them dismissed. We are both graduating college and are concerned that a foolish night or drinking could possibly have a very horrible effect on our futures. She has never ever been arrested or in any trouble, and I have been arrested for a public drunkeness( which was dismissed). Please get back to us!!