What Constitutes a No Contact Order Violation

[toppel]

My question involves restraining orders in the State of: Wshington

I have a no contact order for Domestic Violence (there was none, but that's another story) The victim calls me daily. I do not answer ever! I do not call her, email her, write her or contact her in any way, but she has gotten more and more upset with no reponse from me.


Fearing she would attempt to make things worse, I simply changed my voicemail greeting to address her question. This message could be heard by anyone so the only way she could hear it is if she chose to call me again. (I did NOT leave it on her voicemail) If I saw her caller ID come in on my phone, I of course would not answer the call, but after it had ended, I would simply change my voicemail greeting to something more generic. This way she would get her answer without any contacxt from me. My attorney said this was a violation of the no contact order, but I have had other attorneys say it was not. Can anyone tell me for sure and/or is there somewhere I may be able to find a precedent that would support my belief? Thank you very much.

[aardvarc]

To a great extent, it depends on whether the order was one granted because she requested one, or whether the order came down from a judge at the judge's own discretion.

If she requested the order in civil court, saying that she was afraid and didn't want contact, then you have a great case to take your records and ask the court to drop the order.

If the order was issued as part of a criminal case because it was the judge's idea to keep you two apart, then the judge won't care that she wanted to try to make contact with you - your message would constitute "contact" and you could be facing arrest for violation of the order.

[toppel]

It was at the judge's order so that's very bad news for me. I very much appreciate your response.

Thank you very much.

[aardvarc]

You'll want to be very careful. Whether she's meaning to put you in such a bad situation or not, her attempts to contact you can have very undesireable consequences for you if you allow her attempts to succeed.

You've really GOT to avoid the temptation to communicate back in any way. Also be sure to provide your defense attorney with phone records or messages she's left.

[justtoonice]

I have a no contact order for Domestic Violence (there was none, but that's another story) The victim calls me daily. I do not answer ever! I do not call her, email her, write her or contact her in any way, but she has gotten more and more upset with no reponse from me.

This is exactly what happened with my situation. The other person also made a few threats on the recorded messages, and I was advised to obtain a restraining order, which I did. It ends up he is now in jail for violating the restraining order -- and it was all based on phone calls! I had to provide evidence by way of an officer recording messages off of my cell phone that came from his cell phone.

Just hope that she didn't record the outgoing message from your phone.