Police Charges against Domestic Violence and Criminal Damage

(The content below was transcribed from an interview done with Acacia Law. We think you'll find it much easier
and more enjoyable to read this way.)

Interviewer: So let's say there's a couple that's fighting. The police get called. The police come out. How often is it that the police are going to go away and everyone will be able to go back to what they were doing versus one or both people go to jail versus one or both people end up with a restraining order against them and a criminal case pending?

Acacia Law: Yes. They're definitely looking at jail time then. In fact, what happens is that, let's take for example they had a felony charge for stealing a bicycle out of a residence or structure or something like that, that belongs, they thought to them, but really is joint property between them and their spouse or their former spouse. Well, that piece of property if placed into cash value will reach some sort of threshold under the state statute and, I forgot where I was at . . .

Interviewer: Let me back it up though, like I said, if the police are called and a couple's fighting, once the police come is it 100 percent for sure that someone's going to jail? Is it 100 percent sure that . . .

Acacia Law: Oh, yes. What that means is someone for sure is going to jail for that night. It is standard policy in Tucson, in Phoenix, in both Maricopa County, and Pima County as well as each of the other surrounding counties it's the same thing.

Interviewer: How often when there's a fight and the police show up that it's valid versus not being valid? The people realize they made a mistake, everything's okay, just go away? So now it's too late.

Acacia Law: Yeah, it's like any other charge. My experience has been people who think that the longer you avoid something the better off you'll be and these types of cases, domestic violence cases especially, you're losing rights every time you get charged with something like this and you're also placing other people in jeopardy. Okay?

Let me give you an example. If you have young children at home and you have a husband and wife who are having a physical confrontation. The police will and it's on account of that that more or less they'll treat anyone there as not only a possible suspect, but depending on which version of facts they believe, a probable suspect. And the standard model, as I said, is to simply put the people into custody, normally for just a day, but it's enough to make them think that they need to reevaluate their lives.