Normally, when someone is arrested for assault or any other domestic violence offence, they are transported to the police station to be processed and questioned. Due to COVID-19, some accused people are not taken to the police station, but instead given a Promise to Appear and told that they can call the detachment at a later time to make a statement.
Regardless of whether the police give you paperwork where you are or take you down to the police station, the most important thing to remember is not to make a statement to the police about what happened.
After being arrested, you will either be released with a court date and a set of conditions to follow or you will be held for court. In court, you will either have a bail hearing where the Crown Counsel asks for your detention or you will be released by consent. Unless there are serious aggravating circumstances or you have a previous record of similar offences, you will most likely be released with a set of conditions to follow.
If you are detained, you will remain in custody until you either have a bail review in Supreme Court or your trial or guilty plea takes place. If you are released, you will almost certainly be prohibited from contacting your partner or going to the family home.
After your bail hearing, the next court date will be your first chance to get your particulars, which includes the police report and any other evidence regarding the allegations against you. You may have hired a lawyer by this point, or you may be represented by duty counsel. If you don’t already have a lawyer, you should call one at this point.
Your lawyer will go through the particulars and begin having discussions with Crown Counsel. The next weeks and months will determine whether you can resolve your file early or it will have to go to trial. Your lawyer will walk you through all of your options and advocate for your file to be resolved or tried fairly.